International Students

Doncaster Secondary College Celebrates Outstanding Success at the 2026 Victorian Global Learning Awards!

Doncaster Secondary College is incredibly proud to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our international students at the 2026 Victorian Global Learning Awards (VGLA).

The annual Victorian Global Learning Awards (VGLA) celebrate the excellence of international students while recognising schools and homestay families for their outstanding contributions to global learning and engagement. These awards highlight the strength of Victoria’s international relationships and our esteemed reputation for fostering intercultural understanding. Most importantly, they honour the students, teachers, parents, principals, and homestay families who play a vital role in creating a diverse and inclusive educational community.

This year, DSC achieved remarkable success, with four of our outstanding international students recognised for their leadership, contribution, and global citizenship.

🌟 Junyu (William) Yan

Student Leadership Award – Junior High School (Years 7–8)

William has demonstrated exceptional leadership potential through his active participation in school programs, strong academic commitment, and consistently positive attitude. His curiosity, determination, and willingness to embrace new opportunities continue to inspire both peers and staff.

🌟 Zian (Mia) Gao

Student Leadership Commendation Award – Middle School (Years 9–10)

Mia has shown outstanding dedication to leadership through her involvement in school activities, academic focus, and resilient mindset. Her confidence, enthusiasm, and readiness to take on challenges reflect her growing leadership capacity and valuable contribution to the DSC community.

🌍 Kuysing (Kyle) Te

Global Citizen Award – Year 11

Kyle has played an important role in fostering inclusion, leadership, and intercultural engagement within the school community. His commitment to supporting fellow students through academic mentoring and student initiatives truly reflects the qualities of a global citizen.

🌏 Meyly (Elly) Te

Global Citizen Award – Year 12

Elly’s passion for community engagement and intercultural understanding has made a significant and lasting impact on the International Student Program. Through mentoring, peer support, and student-led initiatives, she has consistently demonstrated compassion, maturity, and a strong sense of global responsibility.

These prestigious recognitions not only celebrate the dedication, leadership, and academic excellence of our international students, but also highlight the strength of the supportive and inclusive school community surrounding them. Their success reflects the collective efforts of our International Student Program staff, teachers, coordinators, homestay families, and Principal Team.

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to William, Mia, Kyle, and Elly on their outstanding achievements. The entire DSC community is incredibly proud of your success and the positive example you set for others.

The Department of Education’s continued recognition of DSC international students over recent years — including Harry Bui (2022 International Student of the Year – Ambassador Award) and Berry Eain (2024 International Student of the Year – Ambassador Award) — continues to strengthen the reputation of our International Student Program and showcase the exceptional calibre of students within our school community.

These achievements further position Doncaster Secondary College as a leading and highly regarded destination for international education.

In the coming weeks, the ISP Team will interview our award-winning students and their family members to reflect on their journeys, experiences, and accomplishments. We look forward to sharing their inspiring stories with the wider DSC community.

2026 Term 1 Buddy Program-Building Friendships and Connections

The 2026 Term 1 International Student Buddy Program has once again been a fantastic success, creating a welcoming and supportive environment for new international students as they settle into life at Doncaster Secondary College.

Held every Thursday lunchtime in the International Student Learning Hub, the program was organised and led by our dedicated 2026 Global Learning Student Ambassadors. Throughout the term, students participated in a wide range of engaging activities aimed at building friendships, encouraging teamwork, and helping students feel connected to the wider school community.

A sincere thank you goes to all of our wonderful buddies and student leaders who generously volunteered their time, energy, and enthusiasm to support new international students. Through interactive games, cultural sharing activities, and delicious multicultural snacks, students had many opportunities to learn from one another and celebrate the diversity within our school community.

The Buddy Program has played an important role in helping students develop confidence, adjust to school life, and create meaningful cross-cultural friendships. It has also strengthened our inclusive school culture by encouraging students from different backgrounds to connect and support one another.

We would like to congratulate the 2026 Global Learning Student Ambassador Team for their outstanding leadership and commitment throughout the term:

• Kuysing (Kyle) Te

• Nelly Carol (Nelly) Lim

• Zian (Mia) Gao – Group Leader

• Guqin (Grace) Xu

• Elyse Van Der Mei

• Madison Nguyen

• Tsz Wai (Josephine) Kung

• Boxuan (Danny) Wang

• Junyu (William) Yan

• Chenxinyi (Celine) Zhao

We are incredibly proud of the positive energy, teamwork, and care demonstrated by everyone involved, which made the 2026 Term 1 Buddy Program such a meaningful and rewarding experience for all students.

We also invited all new international students to provide feedback on their experience in the one-term Buddy Program. Below are some key highlights from their responses:

Student Highlights from the 2026 Term 1 Buddy Program

Throughout the term, international students shared many positive reflections about their experiences in the Buddy Program. A common highlight was the opportunity to make new friends, participate in interactive games, and enjoy a welcoming and inclusive environment every Thursday lunchtime.

Many students particularly enjoyed popular activities such as the “Who is the Imposter?” game, country and flag guessing challenges, multicultural food guessing games, and board games. Students described these activities as fun, exciting, creative, and a great way to connect with others. Several students mentioned that the games encouraged teamwork, communication, laughter, and friendly competition.

Another major highlight for students was the chance to spend time chatting with their buddies and meeting both local and international students from different backgrounds. Many students shared that the Buddy Program helped them feel more comfortable, supported, and connected within the school community.

Students also highly appreciated the multicultural snacks provided during the sessions. Sharing food from different cultures created opportunities for cultural exchange and helped students learn more about one another’s backgrounds and traditions.

Some student comments included:

• “I really enjoyed playing the imposter game because it was funny and challenging to guess who the imposter was.”

• “I enjoyed meeting new people and learning more about them.”• “The board games were fun and helped me make new friends.”

• “I liked the country guessing games because we learned about different cultures.”

• “I enjoyed talking with my buddy while eating snacks together.”

• “The Buddy Program helped me feel welcomed and connected to other students.”

Students also shared thoughtful suggestions for future sessions, including adding more teamwork activities, sport games, survival-style games, additional board games, and even more opportunities to interact with different students and buddies. Some students also suggested clearer explanations of game instructions and longer activity time to make the sessions even more engaging.

Overall, the reflections highlighted how valuable the Buddy Program has been in helping students build friendships, strengthen confidence, celebrate cultural diversity, and create a strong sense of belonging within the DSC community.

Update on the “Your Safety, Your Voice” Poster Contest

The “Your Safety, Your Voice” Poster Contest has received an outstanding response this year, with a record number of entries submitted by both students and DSC staff members. The creativity, effort, and meaningful messages reflected in the artworks have been truly impressive and demonstrate the strong commitment within our school community towards promoting safety, wellbeing, and student voice.

Over the past few weeks, the 2026 Global Learning Student Ambassadors have been working very hard behind the scenes to prepare the artworks for the judging process. Their responsibilities included carefully checking the authenticity of submissions, organising and sorting the entries, and professionally labelling each artwork for presentation to the judging panel.

The judging panel will include representatives from NHW Manningham as well as members of the DSC Principal Team. The Student Ambassadors have shown great responsibility, attention to detail, and teamwork throughout the preparation process, ensuring that all artworks are presented fairly and respectfully.

This experience has also provided our student leaders with valuable opportunities to develop organisational, leadership, and communication skills while contributing positively to an important school and community initiative.

Below are reflections from the 2026 Global Learning Student Ambassadors about their preparation experience and involvement in the contest.

Organising and contributing to the Your Neighbourhood, Your Safety, Your Voice Poster Contest has been a highly valuable and meaningful experience for our team. Through this process, we further developed our collaboration skills, strengthened our ability to share responsibilities effectively, and enhanced our communication and teamwork capabilities. Most importantly, the project allowed us to help raise awareness about community safety and crime prevention within our school community.

At the beginning of the project, our team worked together to discuss the theme, expectations, and organisational details of the competition to ensure the program could run smoothly and successfully. Once the details were finalised, we promoted the contest across the school to encourage participation. We were very pleased to see many students and staff members actively engage in the competition, including members of our Student Voice Team.

After collecting all artwork submissions, our team carefully reviewed each entry to ensure the authenticity and fairness of the competition. This included checking submissions to identify any artwork that may have been generated using AI tools. Entries identified as AI-generated were clearly marked, and only non-AI artworks were presented to the Neighbourhood Watch representatives for official judging to maintain fairness and integrity throughout the process.

In preparation for the judging panel, our team also professionally organised and labelled each artwork submission. This involved categorising entries into year-level groups, printing participant details, and preparing displays to ensure the judging process could run as efficiently and smoothly as possible.

The success of this competition was truly a collective effort. Throughout the process, team members supported one another patiently, communicated effectively, and worked together to solve challenges that arose along the way. This experience highlighted the importance of teamwork, organisation, and attention to detail, as even small mistakes could potentially affect the competition outcomes.

For example, our team divided responsibilities into smaller groups to manage tasks such as labelling artworks and sorting submissions into the appropriate year-level categories. It was a wonderful experience to see every member actively contribute and take responsibility throughout the program.

Overall, participating in and helping organise this competition was both rewarding and inspiring. It not only strengthened our teamwork and leadership skills but also reinforced the importance of community engagement, cooperation, and shared responsibility in creating successful school initiatives.

2026 Global Learning Student Ambassadors: 

Kuysing (Kyle) Te, Nelly Carol (Nelly) LIM, Zian (Mia) GAO, Guqin (Grace) XU, Elyse VAN DER MEI, Madison NGUYEN, Tsz Wai (Josephine) KUNG, Boxuan (Danny) WANG, Junyu (William) YAN, Chenxinyi (Celine) ZHAO

International Students Enjoy Athletics Day

At Doncaster Secondary College, our international students are not only committed to their academic studies but also actively involved in the vibrant co-curricular life of the school.

This term, many international students enthusiastically participated in the DSC Athletics Carnival, one of the most exciting and anticipated events on the school calendar. Dressed proudly in their house colours and filled with team spirit, students competed in a variety of events including sprints, long jump, novelty activities, and relay races. Others showed their support by cheering on friends and classmates from the sidelines, helping to create a fun and energetic atmosphere throughout the day.

The event provided a wonderful opportunity for international students to step outside the classroom, build friendships, strengthen connections with local students, and experience the strong sense of community at DSC. Many students demonstrated great enthusiasm, resilience, teamwork, and sportsmanship, while also challenging themselves to try new activities and participate with confidence.

We are incredibly proud of the way our international students continue to embrace school life and contribute positively to the wider school community. Their willingness to get involved and make the most of every opportunity truly reflects the inclusive and global spirit of Doncaster Secondary College.

Below is a student reflection sharing their recent Athletics Day experience.

I participated in the 400-metre race at the school sports event and proudly came second. I decided to join the race because I enjoy running and wanted to challenge myself. When I received my ribbon, I felt incredibly proud and excited, as the race was difficult and I knew I had given it my very best effort.

One of the highlights of the day was the amazing atmosphere and hearing my friends cheer me on during the race. The 400 metres was definitely challenging because it requires both speed and endurance. I became very tired towards the end, but I kept pushing myself to finish strongly.

Through this experience, I learned the importance of determination and perseverance. I would encourage other students to participate in school sports events because they are not only fun and rewarding but also help build confidence and create wonderful memories with friends. -Zian (Mia) GAO

At the Athletics Carnival, I participated in the 1500m, 400m, and 100m events. I achieved excellent results, placing 1st in the 1500m, 2nd in the 400m, and 3rd in the 100m. I decided to join these events for fun and to test my athletic abilities against other students.

I felt extremely proud and happy after receiving my ribbons because all of my hard work and effort had paid off. The most enjoyable and memorable part of the experience was being able to challenge myself, cheer on other competitors, and race against my friends to see who was faster. Although I felt very tired during the races, I also found the experience exciting and enjoyable. I overcame my tiredness by motivating myself to keep going and by focusing on the goal of winning a ribbon.

By participating in this event, I learned the importance of perseverance and pushing through challenges, even when things become difficult. I would encourage other students to participate in sporting events because they are a great way to test your abilities, improve your health, and build confidence. Sport is also an excellent way to make new friends. During the carnival, I met many new people by competing and talking together after the races.

One example of teamwork was during the 4x100m relay event. I was paired with three other students, and together we achieved 3rd place. We encouraged each other throughout the race, passed the baton successfully, and motivated one another to run faster. Overall, I am very proud of my effort, achievements, and the prizes I received from the Athletics Carnival. - Setharith (Seth) CHEA

New International Students Reflection-My First Term Journey at DSC

As their first term comes to an end, our new international students have taken time to reflect on their experiences at Doncaster Secondary College. From building new friendships and discovering a new learning environment to adjusting to school life in Australia, their reflections highlight the excitement, challenges, and memorable moments of their journey so far. Here are some of their thoughts on starting this new chapter at DSC.

The first day I came to DSC, I was worried about everything that might happen to me—the new environment, making friends, and especially the language. However, after my first day at DSC, I found that it was completely different from what I had imagined. All of my classmates tried hard to help me, and I made lots of friends.

I also made friends with people from different cultures and learned about their traditions through the International Buddy Program. Every Thursday after school, we have our International Student Club at the Learning Hub. There, I learned what to do if we are bullied and how to better support ourselves.

I have worked very hard to improve myself. Humanities was a very difficult subject for me from day one. At first, I could not understand everything the teacher said, and there were so many new words that I had to remember. However, through my continuous effort, I am now able to understand the lessons, and when I received feedback from my teacher, I felt that all my hard work had paid off.

I had a really good Term 1 at Doncaster Secondary College. I believe I will have a wonderful future here, and I will never forget all of these wonderful memories.

-Ziyan (Lily) WANG

Looking back on my first term at Doncaster Secondary College, I would say it has been a term filled with both laughter and tears. I actually had my first impression of DSC during the interview with Ms Huang. When I stepped into the campus for the very first time, I was overwhelmed by the enormous size of it. However, Ms Huang was incredibly friendly and welcoming, and even gave me a short school tour, which quickly eliminated my worries.

 One of the most memorable experiences, from my perspective, must be the Year 7 Camp. At first, I didn’t even want to go, because we were not allowed to bring cell phones. To my surprise, however, the camp turned out to be surprisingly engaging. I particularly enjoyed the night walk. Although I was extremely scared at the beginning, my teachers and classmates showed great support towards each other. Some of us held hands while walking, while others sang songs together, which gradually helped me overcome my fear and made me feel safe. The Trivia night was also very exciting, and my team even won first place in the end, with each member getting a pack of gummy bears. (YAY!)

 Of course, challenges also showed up on time in my first term. When I joined the Soundwork (DSC school band), I had much difficulty playing the flute, which made me fall behind others. I almost wanted to quit, but the encouragement and support from my friends helped me tremendously.

 For future international students, it is completely normal to feel overwhelmed or even scared at first. But I want to say what matters the most is to never hesitate to ask for help. You are much tougher than you think you are.

-Xiaoxi (Rachel) SHI

2026 Global Learning Student Ambassadors Participate in Onsite Mentoring Session

Our 2026 Global Learning Student Ambassadors recently had the valuable opportunity to participate in a face-to-face mentoring session organised by the Department of Education. The session provided an inspiring and collaborative environment for students to further develop their leadership skills, share ideas, and strengthen their understanding of global citizenship and diversity.

During the mentoring session, students proudly shared updates on the two Global Learning projects currently underway at Doncaster Secondary College. They discussed the goals and progress of their initiatives; while also reflecting on the positive contributions they are making within the school community.

Working alongside mentors, the ambassadors explored a range of themes and concepts to help refine and develop the updated project names:

• Global Connection

• “Your Neighbourhood, Your Voice & Your Safety” Poster Contest

These collaborative discussions encouraged students to think more deeply about what it means to “celebrate diversity” and how they can continue promoting inclusion, cultural understanding, community engagement, and student voice within their school environment.

Students reflected very positively on the experience and appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with others, exchange ideas, and learn from experienced mentors. The session also helped strengthen their confidence and further develop important skills in leadership, communication, teamwork, and problem-solving.

Overall, the mentoring session was a highly rewarding experience that empowered our Global Learning Student Ambassadors to continue making meaningful contributions to both the DSC community and the wider global community.

Please find the Student Ambassadors’ reflection below:

Being part of the Student Ambassador Mentoring Session was a truly rewarding experience for us. Our key focus has always been to celebrate diversity and strengthen intercultural connections within our school community. Throughout the session, we engaged in meaningful discussions around several ideas and initiatives, including the renaming of our program to better reflect our vision and values.

Following collaborative discussions and a team vote, we renamed the buddy program Global Connection, a title that we believe better represents our focus on inclusion, belonging, and intercultural understanding. During the mentoring session, we also presented two major initiatives that we have organised throughout Terms 1 and 2 — the Buddy Program and the Art Contest.

Through the Buddy Program, our team connects local students from diverse backgrounds with newly arrived international students to support their transition into the school community and help them feel more comfortable and connected on campus. To further promote cultural understanding, we also organise engaging weekly activities during buddy sessions, including cultural food guessing games, country flag trivia, and other interactive activities that encourage students to learn more about different cultures in an enjoyable and meaningful way.

In addition, we rebranded our art competition as Your Neighbourhood, Your Safety, Your Voice, aligning the contest more closely with our overall theme of Celebrating Diversity. Students from a wide range of cultural backgrounds contributed artworks featuring unique perspectives and creative styles, further showcasing the richness and diversity within the DSC community.

Overall, the mentoring session provided valuable guidance and helped us develop a clearer direction for the future growth of our projects and initiatives. Through these discussions and reflections, we gained a stronger understanding of how we can continue improving our programs to strengthen connections between students and foster a more inclusive, welcoming, and culturally connected school community.

2026 Global Learning Student Ambassadors: 

Kuysing (Kyle) Te, Nelly Carol (Nelly) LIM, Zian (Mia) GAO, Guqin (Grace) XU, Elyse VAN DER MEI, Madison NGUYEN, Tsz Wai (Josephine) KUNG, Boxuan (Danny) WANG, Junyu (William) YAN, Chenxinyi (Celine) ZHAO

International Student Reading Program T2 2026

In Term 2, 2026, our International Team continues to run the Reading Program based on the Term 1 Progress Reports for international students who require additional support.

Please see the details below:

• Reading Program sessions are scheduled weekly and appear on students’ Compass timetables. 
• We email parents to explain the purpose of the Reading Program and involve them in supporting their child’s personal development, including developing positive learning attitudes and behaviours. 
• During lunchtime sessions, we check students’ recent learning progress and remind them to complete and submit tasks on time. 
• We tell students how to prepare for lessons. This includes logging into Compass to read lesson plans before class and revising after each lesson. We also check whether students have completed this preparation. 
• For example, students may be asked to read a lesson plan and respond to questions such as: “What persuasive language terms do you remember?” If they are unable to answer, that means they have not prepared well. They are encouraged to review their notes or research the information online before lessons begin for all subjects.
• Students are expected to read all lesson plans on Compass and prepare for upcoming lessons. 

• During the sessions, we found that one student did not yet have the storybook required for his EAL class. We emailed his parents asking them to repurchase the storybook and ensure that he brings it to school for his lessons. 

   

Through the lunchtime Reading Program, we hope students will not only improve their English skills but also develop positive learning attitudes and behaviours for the future.

Sally Huang

International Student Program Director