Principal Team Editorial
Another busy couple of weeks have flown by and, like many others, it was nice to have a long weekend to catch my breath and slow down for a moment.
Our Year 9 City Experience program coupled with Year 10 Work Experience is always a highlight on the school calendar with students gaining valuable real world experiences to foster their independence and maturity as they build valuable skills for life beyond school.
Our music students (200+) enjoyed their 3-day camp, spending valuable practice and bonding time in their ensembles, whilst preparing for Gala, and all students in classrooms across Wantirna College have been engaging in final assessments to determine grades and learning growth.
Sub-school Re-structure for 2027
Over the past couple of weeks, all students have had the opportunity to participate in the annual student survey, giving students the opportunity to provide valuable feedback about their experiences at school.
This valuable feedback helps us to make better decisions about the direction of the school and how we can continue to tweak things to improve learning and wellbeing outcomes for our students.
At the start of this year, a small working party of leaders reviewed our current sub-school structure of Middle School (Year 7-8) and Senior School (Year 9-12). A key part of the review was to look at the student survey data from last year and speak to current students about their experiences in sub-schools.
The Year 9 and 10 survey data conveyed less positive experiences in social engagement and transition compared to the other year level cohorts and Year 9/10 students in focus groups spoke of not feeling a sense of ‘belonging’ or ‘identity’ within the Senior School.
Based on recommendations from the working party, we have decided to change to three sub-schools next year: Junior School (Year 7-8), Middle School (Year 9-10), and Senior School (Year 11-12).
Key factors:
Smaller sub-schools build stronger connections between students and staff.
A dedicated space for Year 9/10 students (REES House) will foster a place of belonging and identity.
Dedicated quiet study area for Year 12 students (Pathways Hub). Year 11 and 12 students will use the bigger Senior Centre as a collaborative space to socialise at recess/lunch and engage in study groups.
Increase of Wellbeing support in each sub-school.
Improved role clarity for leaders and Year Level Coordinators
The following visual details the spaces and staffing for each of the three subschools and we look forward to moving ahead next semester with planning for 2027.
Indigenous Basketball Jerseys
Last Friday, we celebrated the launch of our new Indigenous-designed basketball jerseys with two hotly contested staff-versus-students basketball games. The unveiling of our Indigenous students’ stories, captured forever on our new jerseys, was very special, and to have so many staff and students come together in Mooroop for the occasion made it even more special.
Thank you to our Marrung Leader, Courtney Moran, and our Koorie Captain, Natasha Rinderhagen-Douglas, for leading this special day, and also to Nicholas Elliot, our previous Marrung Leader who led the work in designing the jerseys.
See page five for all the details and photos.
Carrie Wallis
Principal