Camps, excursions and activities. 

CHARTSEC Driver Ed

Fifteen Donald High School Year 10 students attended Chartsec Driving School in Charlton for a three-day pre-driver program from Wednesday, June 11th to Friday, June 13th.

The material covered during the driving component of the program included: steering, right and left turns, U-turns and reversing, roundabouts and convoy driving, angle parking and hill starts, reverse parallel parking, overtaking, 3-point turns, and a practical drive test. On Wednesday night, the students also benefited from experiencing a ‘night’ drive.

The students had a great time, and the instructors were extremely impressed with the students’ attitudes and skills, although a number of stop signs were hugged (this was the penalty handed out for failing to stop at a stop sign!). This program is a valuable opportunity for our young people to gain new skills and confidence when in charge of a vehicle. For some students, it was their first time behind the wheel of a car, while many others enjoyed the opportunity to practice driving a manual car.

A big thank-you must go to the wonderful staff at Chartsec Driving School, especially Brett Schofield for his coordination of the program. Thanks also to Year 10 parent Glenn Davis for transporting the students home from the night drive.

Kim Griffiths 

Year 10 Coordinator

The Big Science Competition

Thank you for taking part in the 2025 Big Science Competition. This year, over 38,000 students from across Australia and the world sat the Big Science Competition in May. Congratulations to the following students:-

High Distinction – Top 9%

Yr 8 Matei

Credit – Top 30%

Yr 7 Riley

Participation 

Yr 10 Kailie

Yr 7 Victor

Students received their certificates at recent Celebration Assembly

Zoo Victoria’s Youth Conservation Leaders Program

By Kailie Krause

I was lucky enough to be awarded a full scholarship to attend the 2025 Zoo Victoria’s Youth Conservation Leaders Program where 35 year 9/10 students were chosen to develop tangible and usable Science skills while growing as a leader in a group environment. We spent 11 days between Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary, Haining Farm, Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve and Parliament of Victoria. We got to hear and speak to a lot of Zoo Victoria mentors (including the director of Melbourne Zoo, Sheri), First Nation leaders, Parks Victoria rangers and many zookeepers, science leaders and Dan, the man behind the rehabilitation of Leadbeater Possums. We got to experience so many fun things including going behind the scenes at Melbourne Zoo, seeing the lions get fed, seeing some of the endangered animals at Melbourne Zoo, seeing the Avery show at Healesville Sanctuary, going spotlighting and seeing Highland Leadbeater Possums in the wild and tree planting.

Our main focus over the program was to work within a group and deliver a community engagement plan based on the Leadbeater Possums to increase people’s knowledge about this critically endangered animal. There are only 40 lowland Leaderbeater Possum’s left in the wild and there is a team that is trying to increase their population. We were tasked with trying to think of a way to increase people’s knowledge about Leadbeater Possum’s in a fun and creative way. My group decided to design a playground to be built in or around Haining Farm called ‘Think like a Leadbetter.’ All the items that we put into our park were based off how Leaderbeaters act like making play equipment where you do not touch the ground like Leadbeater Possums such as a flying fox, seesaw bridges and stepping stones. We also thought to put information flaps around the park so that people could be informed about Leadbeater Possum’s too. We discussed our plans with stakeholders who really liked our idea and gave us valuable feedback. We then presented our idea at graduation to our parents, school teachers, Zoo representatives and Dan. 

Thank you to Miss O’Brien for being my liaison teacher during this experience and my mum for driving me to Melbourne. I feel incredibly lucky to be the first Donald High school student to complete this program and hope many more students take up this opportunity.

Drama Production - WIZARD OF OZTRALIA

I just wanted to extend a huge thank you to everyone who supported our production last night! We had an incredible turnout of 123 attendees, and we couldn’t be more grateful for the community’s support.

A big shoutout to our talented cast who delivered on their performance, and a special thanks to Matei for handling the lighting. Huge appreciation to our backstage team—Victory, Karliesha, Shaine and Sarah O’Brien—who kept everything running smoothly. Thank you, Sarah, for also helping with the lead up & pack up of the play, and for making the amazing programs!

Most of our amazing costumes were sourced from Amelia McIntyre, with additional help from Karen Medlyn and her students. Speaking of Karen, along with Bradley Calvert, they were instrumental in bringing our props and sets to life.

Thanks so much to Kim Griffiths and River for handling the ticket sales which were out the door! Also, to Shanae, Caitlin Cavanagh and Belicia Francis for making sure the popcorn was on point!

To everyone else who helped pull the final pieces together - we couldn’t have done it without each and every one of you. Thank you again for being part of such a wonderful night! We’re already excited for bigger and better things next year! 🤩🙌🏼

Olivia McKay

Year 8 Camp - Dunkeld

“On Wednesday the 11th of June the Year 8’s departed Donald High School enroute to Grampians Retreat near Dunkeld for camp. Along the way we were entertained by Darnell’s eclectic taste in music. Once we arrived and had settled in, our first activity was an exhilarating hike to the Piccaninny Lookout. Emmett and Nullah used this as an opportunity to complete their footy training for the week by racing up the hike! At the top of the Picaninny we were treated to some amazing views of Dunkeld and the Grampians ranges. Once we returned to camp, we were off on our next activity: a ninja ropes course. Whilst starting off easy, the challenge increased quickly as you traversed throughout the course, Lithil learning why it is important to “let go of the rope” once you had come off the course. No one student completed all the course but as a class we were able to complete most of the course! Dinner was a very welcome sight for the students after a big day, but they did not have long until we were off to the campfire for marshmallows before starting our night activity of reflector trails. During the course as students tried to spell out the hidden message, this is where the #ScareCrew, founding members Evie and Samuel, was formed. They used this as an opportunity to scare unsuspecting class members that walked by them! 

Day two started with a brisk morning that quickly turned to sunshine as we started our initiative activities. The group was split in two as they worked through the challenges. Noah and Jake taking an unofficial leadership role throughout these activities and ensuring everyone was included. During this time, Layla G was able to demonstrate her flexibility as she could change her size as needed to help her team complete the challenges. After a break for morning tea, we went to the Giant Swing. All the students took the challenge to get geared up and have a go, with everyone being hoisted up. This allowed discussion for times that students had done similar activities and supported everyone that had a go, like Matei who went all the way to the top for second swing! After lunch some of the boys took a daring splash in the ‘solar heated’ pool, which they quickly found out was not as heated as they thought! We also had the privilege of learning Indigenous art, culture, and heard stories from a local Aboriginal Aunty, deepening our understanding of the world around us. Our nighttime activity was a movie night, which the students decided to watch “Holes.” With only small interruptions from Patience as she asked what had happened during the times she was talking and Layla H politely reminding her to be quiet, everyone enjoyed the movie; Chloe even found time to fall asleep in front of the fire. 

Our final morning was the coldest of them all and had everyone rugged up before we took on the flying fox. Everyone experienced a rush as they jumped off the block and started zooming towards the rest of the class, Nevaeh zipped along at a rapid pace! After morning tea, we had a tug-o-war as a class, during which Liam demonstrated a hidden talent as serving as a strong anchor for his team! After this we departed for home, a lot more tired and ready for the weekend! 

Our teachers, Anthony Tatchell and Karen Medlyn, helped us turn the challenges into triumphs and created moments for us all to bond, with lasting memories in the process. Despite the final Tug-of-War being an ultimate battle between groups, we all laughed and felt the gravity of the bonds we have formed and the adventures we have shared!  Together we can achieve great things!”