Secondary Happenings
Have You Met Janet??
Name: Janet Nyhouse
Role: Community Relations Manager
What do you enjoy most about working at DCC?
It has been a wonderful completion of the school circle for me returning to Donvale where I began my educational journey way back in 1975. While so very much has changed and grown at DCC over these many years, what remains the same is the heart of Donvale: Christian parents seeking to partner with Christian teachers in the nurture and education of their children. This makes my heart sing!
What do you love most about your role, and why?
Hands down, my absolute favourite part of this role is that I get to work closely beside our FOD Parent Committee! This team of volunteers serve with passion, energy and faithfulness, and I simply adore serving alongside them and supporting their ideas and projects.
(When I have worked similar roles in other schools, the idea of a flourishing parent committee, and a thriving Class Reps program were dreams to aim for – here at DCC we are blessed beyond measure that these teams serve our community so effectively!)
How does your faith shape the way you approach your role?
“…whatever you do, do all for the glory of God.” 1 Cor.10:31
Every element of my life is a response to God’s amazing gift of life and grace. I consider my role here at DCC a complete privilege and honour, striving to serve Him and bring Him glory every day.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
My family is my greatest treasure, so any time with them is a winner for me! We enjoy time away in our caravan, playing wild board games, exploring nature and delving into hearty conversations around a fire. I also love to decorate our home and host social events as often as possible.
What are you looking forward to for the rest of 2026?
The slide toward the end of the school year always feels so fast, and yet there are many events still to be crammed in! Father’s Day is just around the corner – bringing our famous gift stall plus a new Bowling Blitz social event for Dads and kids, the joy of welcoming new families through Orientation events for our 2027 Preps and Year 7s, honouring our Yr 12s at their Valedictory service, celebrating our Yr 6s at their Graduation and of course, gathering together as Primary and Secondary communities at our end-of-year Thanksgiving Services.
Premier’s VCE Awards
Charles Niles, VCE Coordinator
At the Premier’s Award Presentation ceremony held on 21 July, Gia Dredge received an
award for her performance in VCE VET Equine Studies last year. It was presented by the newly appointed Premier of Victoria the Honorable Ben Carroll.
There were 65,586 students who completed their VCE in 2025 and only 339 awards were presented to recognise the exceptional dedication and hard work of students.
Students must have achieved a study score of 46 or above to be eligible. To put this into context, only students in the top 1% of all students enrolled in the subject are eligible for the award.
Well done Gia!
Science Week
Enoch Hu and Jessie Chen, STEM Captains
From 17 to 21 August, Donvale Christian College celebrated National Science Week with our very own activities. This year’s science week was a massive success, as we engaged students with interactive and exciting opportunities for them to get involved with STEM!
We kicked off the week with an exciting demonstration of some violent elephant toothpaste, as well as allowing students to extract live DNA from strawberries! We then continued with presentations from our very own science teachers, providing insight into the spark which piqued their curiosity in a science career.
On the Wednesday, students were involved in a unique, fun (and tasty) activity where they got to blind taste test different skittle flavours.
The week culminated with what was definitively the highlight of the week, an Engineering Einsteins competition. Students were able to showcase their engineering talents through a video submission, and it was impressive seeing the sophisticated creations of students. We ended the week with a spaghetti tower building competition, where students were put to the test with their teamwork in designing a tall but architecturally sound tower!
Overall, Science Week 2026 at DCC was both fun and intellectually challenging for our students. It was really inspiring to witness the enthusiasm across all the activities, and we cannot wait to see where the students curiosity for STEM takes them!!!!
A huge thank you to Jessie and Enoch for planning and delivering an outstanding week of Science exploration for students across all year levels. Your enthusiasm, organisation, and commitment created engaging learning experiences that inspired curiosity and discovery throughout the week.
EISM Winter Seasaon Grand Finals
Emily Townend, Head of Health & PE & Chris Turner, EISM Coordinator
EISM Sport is a valued part of learning at DCC, providing our students with opportunities to develop their skills, teamwork, and problem-solving in sporting contexts. As students represent our school in sport, they are encouraged to live out our Christian values by demonstrating humility, integrity, and servant leadership.
We wish to congratulate the following teams for winning their EISM Winter Season Sports! Please see below a full list of team members, as well as a short recap of the season from a student in each team.
Boys Netball B - Leroy Spottiswood
Winning the Netball B finals for senior sport was a great experience, especially because my mate and I had opted to play in the B team so we could form a fully year 10 team. We knew we were going to be playing with less experienced players, but it gave us the chance to step up and lead throughout the season. It was awesome seeing everyone improve and getting around each other, and finishing with a finals win was a great way to end it.
Seth Bryant , Leroy Spottiswood , Ing Feng Tiong, Jack Miller , Jonothan Varelas ,
Roy Weatherhead , Dominic Wursthorn & Gilbert De Pavia
Boys Soccer - Tobias Hood
The Senior Boys Soccer Grand Final was a very close match, ending with a score of 2-2 and a shared premiership with Mt Scopus. It was a close start to the match, but Scopus scored first from a corner. Donvale equalised late in normal time with a goal from Loucas Savvas that kept us in the game. The match then went to an extra time of 2 x 5 minute halves where the wind played a huge factor. Scopus scored early so Donvale was down by a goal with only a few minutes left when Aaron Pearce scored a well-placed header off Loucas Savvas' corner kick. The game ended at 2-2. A highlight of the match was the large crowd of Donvalers who were chanting and celebrating on the sidelines all game. It was a hard-fought game and a great overall effort by DCC to come back twice from a goal down.
Tobias Hood , James Varelas, Asher Troth, Austin Allen, Benji Arsenis, Andrew Phillips, Matthew Riad, Elisha Wong, Loucas Savvas, Seth Nauton, Christian Morelli,
Antonio Castro, Lucas Mitton, Aaron Pearce, Jesse Carter, Josh Spence, Tim Cranney & Tanatswa Nyirenda
Girls Table Tennis- Indu Quinn
The Senior Girls Table Tennis team have had an awesome season, building strong friendships and improving all throughout the EISM winter competition. After finishing just shy of the championship in 2025, both experienced and new Donvale players came together this time around against formidable opponents from Mount Scopus. We played a great game in the finals, reflecting our own growth from supporting one another throughout the season, and we hope to return to the tables next year with even more skill, sportsmanship and enthusiasm!
Indu Quinn, Carina Boentoro, Chloe Guo, Alicia Lam, Rachel Lee, Chloe Purnadi,
Beatrice Rozul, Emily Tsymay & Candace Yeh
Girls Volleyball A- Grace Cameron
The Girls Volleyball A team had an exciting grand final against Luther on Wednesday, winning in three straight sets of 18 points each, out of a total 5 sets. We came from 2nd on the ladder, played with great energy, teamwork and determination throughout the game, staying composed under pressure and going for every point. It was an amazing way to finish the season, and everyone contributed to the win.
Grace Cameron, Charisse Chan, Hannah Murray, Leanne Leong, Megan Price,
Amberley Ong, Arielle Harding, Shiloh Ng, Zhijun Liu, Sarah Tobler & Amber Wang
Outdoor Education Climb Camp
Willow Keyte, Matilda Layland and Hosanna Ghaly, Year 9 Outdoor Ed Students
Year 9 students of Outdoor Ed recently hopped on a bus at 6:00 in the morning and drove 5 hours to Mt Arapiles (Dyurrite).
The day we departed many students were in a state of ‘paradox’, a word Mrs Purdie, an Outdoor Ed teacher, referred to throughout the week. We were all nervous for the week ahead but also thrilled to be leaving school to go on an enthralling adventure. There were several climbs and abseils of more than 90 meters high that everyone attempted - making us question if this was the day we would die!
Many students referred to this as “the best camp this year”! The teachers were thrilled to see students giving everything a go and embracing their God-given talents, mentioning they loved all the support they witnessed on the camp and the love shown through actions. Mr Mack remarked on how much he “enjoyed working with students through tough times, especially on the big abseil”.
But truly the best part of this camp experience was spending quality time with our peers around campfires and getting to know God better in his wonderful creation.
