PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
Principal’s Newsletter Report 24/3/25
I feel like I say it towards the end of every term, but it is again, hard to believe we are close to the end of term and that we have completed one quarter of the year. This will be our last newsletter for the term.
As a community this term, we have had a sustained focus on building relationships, especially amongst our younger students. Our school values of Courage, Inclusion, and Responsibility have been central to our conversation with students, as we continue to grow as school community. We have been really pleased to see the strengthening of positive behaviours and attributes to learning and this focus will certainly continue in Term 2.
It has been a very successful term across the board in so many ways, with co-curricular activities such as preparation for the State School Spectacular, instrumental music programs, 2026 Open Night, sport, alumni program presentations, camps, excursions, and even NAPLAN for our Year 7 and 9 students.
We have once again been able to enjoy the very many enriching activities of school life. These activities really help to create communities within the community and allow for our students and staff to make connections and bonds with their peers beyond their classes and across year levels. I think we all agree that the long-lasting memories of school stem from these types of events, and we encourage all students to engage with the many, varied opportunities on offer.
Best wishes to students, staff, and families for a relaxing and enjoyable break over the holidays. I know I am very much looking forward to connecting with family and friends, hitting the gym to burn off the calories of the excess chocolate I will consume, reading a book, taking in a game or two of the footy, and if the surf is good, watching and enjoying the Bells Beach Pro!
China Tour
Good luck to our 18 students accompanied by Alvin Ang, Da Li, and Ricki O’Shannessy who are jet setting off to China on Wednesday evening. We wish them an exciting, interesting and safe tour to our sister school in Nanjing, Shanghai, Beijing, and Xian. An experience of a lifetime!
NAPLAN 2025
We are pleased to advise all Year 7 and 9 students have recently completed the online NAPLAN Testing Schedule for 2025. Just under 2000 tests were administered for our students in total and I would like to congratulate the students for the way in which they approached the tests. We look forward to receiving their NAPLAN results later in the year. Thank-you to all staff and our IT Team for their tireless work supporting our students to complete the tests.
College Council Elections
Congratulations to the following parents who have been elected unanimously to the College Council for a 2-year term:
Kerry Evans – 2 years
Bree Snijders – 2 years
Brenda Bowles – 2 years
Taara Boyles – 2 years (parent/DE rep)
New DE staff representatives on the council include:
Claire Kohl
Aleesha Fecondo
Dillon Henry
Again, I would like to thank our retiring school council members in Paris Gittins, Alana Zybel, Ben Cook, Andrew Erwin, Cate Johnson, Daniel Davies and Elisa Davies for their support.
Swinburne University Work Experience Program
Congratulations to Natalie Garcia (Year 10) for her selection into the Swinburne University work experience program for 2025. Natalie has been selected into the Astronomy and Astrophysics research programs. Natalie will have the opportunity to classify galaxy morphologies, search for peculiar motions in simulated galaxy mergers, produce visualisations of galaxies, and complete lots of other interesting research and activities. We are proud of you Natalie and look forward to hearing more about your passion and chosen career.
Travel on Public Transport to and From School
Recently I met with Vline to discuss train travel and safety of our students utilising train transport on the Geelong to Melbourne, or Melbourne to Geelong trains exiting and departing the North Geelong station, as well as travelling to communities such as Lara, Little River, Wyndham, and Tarneit. We have also reminded students of the importance of the following things: -
Safety on train station platforms as trains are approaching the station (this includes no bouncing of basketballs or kicking or handballing footballs around)
Behaviour in the waiting room/bathrooms at train stations
Reminding students of the necessity to have an active Myki card and to tap “on and off” at the commencement and completion of their journey to avoid fines for fare evasion.
Sit in smaller groups rather than one or two large groups on the train and whilst waiting to board a train.
I have also shared student and behaviour expectations of students with Vline, for all our students travelling to and from school. This has included copies of the student athlete agreement for students in the Specialist Sports Program.
I encourage all parents and carers to encourage their children if travelling on any train service, to behave appropriately and in a way in which displays the high expectations for students within our school community.
Harmony Day
March 21 is Australia’s Harmony Day, which celebrates the country’s cultural diversity. It coincides with the United Nations’ International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Harmony Day is an Australian Government program that centres on the message that “Everyone belongs”, reinforcing the importance of inclusiveness to all Australians. Some people choose to wear the colour orange to connect with this further. At WHC on Friday we decorated all our front gates in orange streamers, and ran activities in class and during lunchtime to acknowledge our cultural diversity. A big thank-you to Mr. Wintels and the leadership team for this work.
End of Term and Learning Conversations
Appointments are still available for our Learning Conversations for parents/carers and students on Thursday 3rd April between 11am -7pm and Friday 4th April between 9am -1pm. The last day of timetabled classes for all students in Year 7-12 will be Wednesday 2nd April.
Term 2 Return Date
Term 2 for students will commence on Tuesday 22nd April.
Student Achievement – an invitation
Can I take this opportunity to remind the families of our school community that we are always willing to hear of and share the deeds of our students in their academic, sporting, performing arts, or community-based pursuits external to our college. We have, on a regular basis, students who are involved in a quite extraordinary array of activities and it is always a pleasure and with great pride that we seek to share those outcomes with our wider school community. We are proud of our people and enjoy celebrating the achievements of our community.
Take care and be safe,
Fiona Taylor
College Principal
Child Safety at WHC
Western Heights College is a child safe organisation committed to protecting students from all forms of abuse. Our College has stringent protocols in place and endeavours at all times to be fully compliant with the Child Safe Standards set out under Ministerial Order 870.
Our College has the following documents and policies in place to achieve compliance with the Standards. All of these documents are available for downloading on our website.
Commitment to Child Safety
Child Safety Policy
Child Safety Code of Conduct
Child Protection Policy and Procedures
Annual Privacy Policy Reminder for 2025
Our school collects, uses, discloses, and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy (found on the college's webpage).
Please take time to remind yourself of our school’s collection notice, found on our website. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents and carers on the webpage. This information is also available in nine community languages:
* Amharic
* Arabic
* Dari
* Gujarati
* Mandarin
* Somali
* Sudanese
* Turkish
* Urdu
* Vietnamese