PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
Principals Newsletter Article
It is my pleasure to share another busy and positive fortnight at Western Heights College, headlined by very welcome news on the AEU pay negotiations, alongside some important reminders and an exciting event on the horizon for several of our talented performers.
In-Principle Agreement with the AEU
I am very pleased to confirm that on Monday 17 August, Australian Education Union (AEU) members voted strongly in favour of the revised in-principle Victorian Government Schools Agreement. As a result, the planned statewide strike scheduled for Wednesday 19 August was called off, and our curriculum day proceeded as planned, giving our staff valuable time for professional learning and planning.
The agreement will now go to a vote of all Department of Education employees for formal endorsement, with Fair Work Commission approval expected later in the year. I will keep the community updated as this process progresses, and I thank our staff for their patience and professionalism throughout what has been a long period of negotiation.
School Uniform Supplier
We are currently transitioning our full school uniform range to our SSP Uniform supplier Indigo Wolf. Prior to this occurring the school will be taking delivery of existing stock from Uniform Group and will be selling this stock from onsite at Western Heights College until the commencement of the new 2027 year when Indigo Wolf will have the full range available to our community. The uniform will not be changing in appearance or style. We apologise for the challenges in having this uniform available to our school community. I will update the school community when the uniform items arrives from Uniform Group to Western Heights College.
Valuables at School — Please Take Home Each Night
A reminder to all students and families that lockers are not always a totally secure, overnight storage option, even with each bay of lockers located in areas with constant CCTV. Please encourage your child to take home any valuable items — including electronics, jewellery, sports equipment and other personal belongings — at the end of each school day, rather than leaving them in lockers overnight. Please also remind students that all lockers should always have a secure lock on them to ensure property is protected. All gates are locked between 5.30pm - 6pm each day but we do regularly have external groups and users accessing the school grounds for activities and at times gates will be open later than this. The best way to keep valuable items secure is to take them home at the end of each day.
Learning Conversations — Thursday 17 and Friday 18 September
Our next round of Learning Conversations is approaching, taking place on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 September. These conversations are a valuable opportunity for families, students and teachers to discuss learning progress and next steps together. Bookings are open on Compass — please make your booking as soon to secure your preferred times.
Good Luck — Victorian State Schools Spectacular
Good luck to all of our talented students taking part in the Victorian State Schools Spectacular, at John Cain Arena next Friday 28 and Saturday 29 August. This is a wonderful showcase of the creativity and talent of Victorian government school students, and we are incredibly proud of our students who have been selected to take part. We can't wait to celebrate your achievement!
BIS Sport Breakfast
It was a wonderful way to start the morning yesterday with SSP netball students Lexie Whatley, Jack Te Paa, Ellie Rundle and Head Coach of Netball Susan Meaney, at the annual BIS Sport Breakfast at GMHBA stadium. Our students had the opportunity to hear from an impressive line-up of guest speakers including Simone McKinnis, former Australian Netballer and multiple premiership Melbourne Vixens Coach, Olympic marathon runner Lee Troop and Megan Moody, Geelong United Head Coach. They made the effort to be at GMHBA by 7am on a pupil free day which was impressive. Thanks to the Barwon Sports Academy for hosting the breakfast and providing many aspiring young athletes the opportunity to excel in their chosen sport.
Blue Month Awareness
Well done to our student leaders who have been organizing a month of Friday fun activities for our student’s raising awareness of positive mental health for our young people in our school community during ‘blue month”. I enjoyed seeing our “WHC’s got talent” activity last Friday. It was lots of fun for many students.
Thank you, as always, for your continued support of Western Heights College and our students.
Congratulations
Well done to the following sporting teams on outstanding results recently:
Intermediate Boys Netball team have qualified through to the state finals of the School State netball Championships remaining undefeated throughout the qualifying rounds.
Year 7 Boys AFL Team – went down in a close quarter final for the Year 7 Boys AFL SSV championships last Thursday. It was a wonderful achievement to get through to the Quarter final.
Thank you, as always, for your continued support of Western Heights College and our students.
With warm regards,
Fiona Taylor
Principal
Western Heights College
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 2026
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