Secondary School News

Assistant Principal Secondary - Operations and Wellbeing

A sprint to the finish

Well, what a term it has been, we have got involved in Inter School Sports, Community Cup, Winter Solstice, Music Performances, MYP showcase, Wurun Expo, Camps, Excursions, National Reconciliation Week and IDAHOBIT day, and this is only half of the list. I want to start off with a huge thank you to all the parents, students and staff who support all of these things happening. Similar to last time, I would like to share one of my many wonderful experiences with students from this term so you can read what happens on a day-to-day basis at school.

Here are the photos from Winter Solstice celebrations.

In Individuals and Societies this term we have been learning about Civics and Citizenship. Our Statement of Inquiry was considering if justice can ever be achieved within the Australian legal system. At first, the students were quick to share their opinions and even gave examples of how justice may or may not be delivered. Building from last term, students quickly jumped to the next idea; well it depends on which perspective you are looking at it, it would be different for the victim and the accused offender. Needless to say, I was proud of them for connecting these overarching concepts and thinking critically about the world in which we live. As the course progressed, we completed an analysis of the Lindy Chamberlain case. At first, I was reminded of my age when students asked me who this was, was this even a real story and this is ridiculous Rachel, a dingo couldn’t do that. To no surprise, as the documentary and conversations continued, students demonstrated their capability to reflect on the content in a broader context and demonstrated how caring they are for people involved and impacted. By the end of this unit, students once again said in some ways justice can be served, offering examples such as Lindy had access to appeals which is fair, however, she also ran out of appeals which does not provide justice as she was incorrectly incarcerated for three years. I was lucky enough to teach two year 8 classes this term and witness their thinking capabilities, empathy, collaboration and maturity as they started to discuss the concept of justice as an idea, stating can it ever really be achieved. They had the chance to explain this to Cameron McCowan and myself when completing their in-class test and needless to say it was wonderful. Thank you students for a wonderful Semester One.

I hope that everyone takes some time to relax and unwind over the holidays, spend time with each other and return safely for Semester Two.

Rachel Wood

Acting Assistant Principal Secondary

Assistant Principal Secondary - MYP & Teaching and Learning

To all families, I wish you the very best for a wonderful break. It has been a long semester for students, and I encourage all to find balance over the break in order to re-energise.

I would like to recognise students for their approaches to learning and participation in a range of activities from inter-school sport, class plays, music concerts, leadership opportunities to weekly community events like Thursday Market. I am very proud of the way our students contribute to school life at our college.

As reports are published, it is an ideal time for families to celebrate achievement and effort put into completing set learning tasks. Similarly, it can also be a time to have conversations around opportunities for growth and improvement so that students can start afresh with new personal and academic learning ambitions moving forward. These ambitions, for example, could be around taking steps to develop time-management/organisation skills, improve attendance, be active learners, attend Learning Hub or sign up for interschool sport. The end of semester is for both celebration and reflection and, as Acting Principal of Teaching and Learning, I too will be doing this.

National NAIDOC Week

The 2025 theme - The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy

National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. ‘NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.’ As these dates are during our break time, we will celebrate NAIDOC Week the first week of next term from Monday 14th to Friday 18th of July. A number of activities will be organised to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples throughout the college. Stay tuned and please get involved.

Yalinguth/Collingwood College First Nations Local History Project

Storyscape is a community arts organisation based in Collingwood, and are co-producers on the Yalinguth Project. Earlier this year, Storyscape put together a funding proposal for a Bendigo Bank grant to run a Yalinguth project with Collingwood College and were successful in their application. We thank and acknowledge Bendigo Bank (Community Bank Clifton Hill-North Fitzroy)

The Yalinguth project aims to engage young people in First Nations education through sharing local significant sites and histories through the Yalinguth app and walking tours; to work with and empower young people to create positive change within their own schools through knowledge gained. This project is driven by recognition that truth-telling and knowledge of local Aboriginal history and culture is vital to truth, justice and reconciliation.

Our college, being situated close to the significant Aboriginal history of Fitzroy, are partnering on this project with Yalinguth/Storyscape to connect our students to these important stories.

The project will be delivered within Year 8 MYP Language and Literature (English) and Individuals and Societies (Humanities) as an interdisciplinary unit. Our students will undertake workshops with members of the Yalinguth team and engage in a walking tour using the First Nations audio app. A short documentary will be made and students will reflect on their knowledge and understandings. Watch this space!

Experience the walking tour yourself and discover more about the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people on which we work and learn: https://www.yalinguth.com.au/

IB Middle Year Programme Showcase

We recently celebrated Year 7&8 learning and achievement at our end of semester showcase which provides an opportunity for families to see their child’s completed work in each subject. This was a terrific night with an amazing atmosphere of pride and celebration!

Families could see for themselves the critical and creative thinking within each unit of work and the overall progression from Year 7 to Year 8. It was also a lovely time for families to connect in a social context.

Our VET students, led by Chef Judy, catered the event, adding warmth and making it a very special community event. Dumplings and ice-cream were also available to raise money for next term’s China Trip!

Year 7 student Ollie respectfully welcomed families with an address using Indigenous language, followed by Yiyi Nguyen and Year 8 student Clementine Daff; each sharing personal accounts and insights of their MYP learning experiences. All students are congratulated for speaking confidently in front of peers and a large adult audience!

Speech Snippets…

‘Te, nagatha Ollie, nagatha Yorta Yorta winya, Hi, I’m Ollie, I’m a Yorta Yorta woman, and my pronouns are he/she/they. I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we gather today, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung people of the Kulin nation, and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. We express our gratitude to the traditional owners and all first nations people for the ongoing sharing of knowledge and culture, and we recognise the sacrifice that comes with that sharing.’ Ollie

‘For me, I mainly enjoy the learning opportunities because of how we can widen our knowledge across numerous topics that are, overall, interesting to learn about.’ Yiyi

‘The MYP Program is very different from my previous learning experiences because it teaches students to make more practical connections between their studies and the real world’

‘The work we’ve done in Year 7 connects to what’s coming in Year 8. The MYP helps us grow step by step and each task prepares us for what’s next. We also start to understand big ideas more clearly, which makes learning even more interesting. We also get to be more creative. We have made our own zines and designed posters in maths. It’s fun, but also helps us think and communicate in new ways.’ Clem

A BIG thank you to all families who attended this event. Your support is appreciated.

Year 7 Language and Literature (English) Dymocks Bookstore Excursion

Year 7 mainstream students visited Dymocks Bookstore in the city to purchase a book from the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) shortlist for 2025: CBCA was founded in 1944 and has the main objective of ‘enriching young lives through Australian stories’. Each year quality Australian books are shortlisted across six categories. https://cbca.org.au/

Our students chose a book from the older/younger readers categories to read as part of their reading routine at home. Next term students will engage in activities and share insights about their book before the overall winner for each category is officially announced in August! Our school librarian Alina Allery (who also attended the excursion and bought more books than we could carry!) will display these books next term in the library for Book Week. Come and check them out.

Opportunities to read books, beyond those prescribed on booklists, is incredibly important for students in developing a personal interest in reading. Not to mention the literacy benefits. It can also build stamina and perseverance, and an overall sense of achievement in being able to independently read a book from start to finish (and it doesn’t matter how long it takes 🙂)

The perfect holiday activity would be for families to look at the books on the CBCA website and visit Dymocks Bookstore…or visit your local library and borrow one! Happy reading!

Learning Hub (formerly known as Homework Club!)

I would like to remind secondary families that Learning Hub is and excellent support available to families.

Lori Michael

Acting Assistant Principal - Teaching and Learning

Chinese Museum Characters Hunt

Year 7 Chinese class visited the Museum of Chinese Australian History in China Town this term. Students have been learning topics about numbers, self-introduction, family, dates, time, and facial expressions since term 1. In the museum, students observed detailed sculptures and portraits in the exhibition "Han Dynasty: Life Everlasting", which allowed students to the topics learned, linking to their curriculum on time, human anatomy and descriptive language. During the excursion, students "hunted" Chinese characters from exhibition texts to improve their reading skills by completing a booklet task. They also got to know about the rich history of the Han Dynasty.

Xiaoming Li (She/her)

Languages & High Abilities 7-10 Learning Area Leader

Yr5-12 Chinese Language Teacher

Our First Semester of French at Collingwood College.

Firstly, I would like to thank our families and staff for the warm welcome to this fabulous community – Collingwood College has a deserved reputation as a strong and diverse community and when it comes to language learning, this is a strength that attracts languages teachers!

Our year 7 classes in first semester have done very well, with many students reaching to six to twelve months ahead of the curriculum. In our basic language acquisition we have convered introducing ourselves and our families.

Basic phrases covering asking and saying our names, ages and birthdays, where we live, our nationality. We have described our family, their hair and eye colour, personality attributes and pets.

We have commenced next term’s unit about free time with sports.

In culture, we have looked at where French is spoken in the world and the events of the French Revolution.

Our MYP Showcase featured the family posters used as our assessment task in term 2. Students are to be congratulated on the high standard of work. Many students extended themselves beyond standard year seven vocabulary, and we

were able to showcase the deep understanding of French adjective placement and agreement. These are still on display in the French room, so if you have not had a chance, please feel free to drop in.

French Club every Friday has been popular over the winter, with popcorn days and watching “Days that changed the world: Bastille Day” and now we are taking a detour into Tahiti and French Polynesia. The fascinating story of the Mutiny on The Bounty.

Our adult classes on Thursdays after school will brush up any of your old high-school French. For those who have

attended, my booklet contains everything up to year ten French. It should only take a term to sharpen and refresh your French. This is a powerful way to model the importance of language learning for your kids, you will be amazed at how much you remember! The impact on the long-term memory is fascinating and re-engaging with language learning is a proven way to fight cognitive decline as we age.

Alliance Française is holding their annual Bastille Day celebrations and there is a French Winter Installation at Federation Square to visit during the holidays. We currently have two students going to the Year 7 Winter

Holiday Intensive, but enrolments are still open. Please visit https://www.afmelbourne.com.au/ to subscribe to their newsletter, there are constant events and classes open to learners of all ages.

Moana Kerr

French Language Teacher

Inter school sport

Our students competed in badminton, soccer, and cross country recently, representing the school proudly, and putting on a great showing in each event. Our badminton girls finished second, soccer year 7 boys finished third, and we had a range of successful finish times in cross country including a very quick race by team captain Blazey Clark. Netball was a big success, with the girls keen to keep training next term. Unfortunately, girls intermediate soccer has been postponed until next term – we’ll give you an update then.

Keep an eye out for futsal, basketball, and table tennis next term!

Nicola Smith

Careers Teacher and Pathways Practitioner

Head Start Program

Get a Head Start with a School-Based Apprenticeships and Traineeships (SBATs)

Did you know that students enrolled in VCE can do an apprenticeship or traineeship and get credit toward their senior studies? It’s a great way to get into a career while completing Year 12. SBATs earn a wage, receive specialised training and complete their schooling all at the same time. The Head Start program is here to help. Speak to Nicola Smith, in the careers office Rm 320 to see if this is for you!

The Learner Profile

Below are a range of ways that you can promote the Learner Profile attributes at home within the family.

A simple approach is to model and recognise. Enjoy 🙂

The Learner Profile

Inquirers	We nurture our curiosity. We know how to learn independently and with others. We learn with enthusiasm and value a love of life-long learning.	Encourage your child’s interests by visiting places such as the Local/State Library, Museum, NGV… Model being an inquirer: admit when you don’t know the answers to a problem or a question and seek out answers with your child Use the internet as a tool for inquiry and have conversations around reputable sites Discuss the role of inquiry in your personal and professional life
Open-Minded	We critically appreciate our own cultures and personal histories, and those of other people. We seek and evaluate a range of points of view, and we are willing to grow from the experience.	Encourage your child to try new things - food, games, places, activities… Expose your child to different festivals, celebrations and traditions Encourage your child to listen for understanding Discuss issues and consider opposing points of view and reasons
Thinkers	We use critical and creative thinking skills to analyse and take responsible action on complex problems. We exercise initiative in making reasoned, ethical decisions.	Encourage your child to independently think of different solutions to problems Pose different real-life problems/questions to your child Ask your child questions when they are working on a problem: Do you have any ideas about how you will begin? Tell me about your thinking How could you do it differently? What do you notice and wonder?
Caring	We show empathy, compassion and respect. We act to make a positive difference in the lives of others and in the world around us.	Role-model the kind of behaviour you want to see in your child: helping others without being asked, being an active listener, acting in ways to show that you care… Reflect on the actions of characters in texts (prin/audio/film) Were they kind or caring? Recognise this quality in people’s actions
Knowledgeable	We develop and use conceptual understanding, exploring knowledge across a range of disciplines. We engage with issues and ideas that have local and global decisions.	Encourage your child to make self/text/world connections with what they read/view. Include first language books/films. Ask your child what they are learning at school and engage in conversations about it: Why do you think that is an important thing to know about? Encourage your child to become familiar with current local/national/global events and issues
Principled	We act with integrity and honesty, with a strong sense of fairness and justice, and with respect for the dignity and rights of people everywhere. We take responsibility for our actions and their consequences.	Discuss the importance of honesty/truth Talk about global issues and fairness/social justice Encourage your child to engage in team and independent sports/games Discuss the idea of norms Talk about the importance of effort over winning and being a gracious loser
Balanced	We understand the importance of balancing different aspects of our lives - intellectual, physical and emotional - to achieve well-being for ourselves and others. We recognise our interdependence with other people and with the world in which we live.	Encourage your child to participate in a wide variety of structured activities as a balance between school and leisure Discuss what you are eating with your child - is it a balanced diet? Emphasise that boredom is okay too - good for us! Put devices away Encourage your child to take timeout and go for a walk, engage with nature or read a book (Brain Breaks)
Communicators	We express ourselves confidently and creatively in different languages. We collaborate effectively, actively listening to the perspectives of other individuals or groups.	Encourage your child to stay in contact with relatives in other parts of Australia or different countries Encourage your child to explain their thinking orally or by drawing a picture Talk about what effective communication can look/sound/feel like Have family dinner-table conversations Play a game that requires a specific communication skill. e.g. Charades
Reflective	We thoughtfully consider the world and our own ideas and experiences. We work to understand our strengths and weaknesses in order to support our learning and personal development.	Review your child’s report with them; talk about successes and opportunities for improvement Reflect on sport outcomes Talk about recent events/actions and what you have learned, or adjustments you would make Set goals with your child Talk about a growth mindset
Risk-takers	We approach uncertaining with forethought and determination; we work independently and cooperatively to explore new ideas and strategies. We are resourceful and resilient in the face of challenges and change. We see making mistakes as a natural part of the learning process.	Encourage your child to attempt new things and then reflect on it - whether they liked it and how it made them feel Discuss the difference between being a risk-taker and dangerous behaviour Recognise the learning gains that result from risk-taking and making mistakes Talk about comfort zones and the benefits of goal-setting Share your own growth stories from taking risks

Lori Michael - MYP Coordinator

INSTRUMENTS FOR SALE (updated 4 May) - Contact Person - Marguerite Boland

Please click on the attachment below to see a list of Stringed instruments for sale. If you have an instrument for sale please email Margeurite at: marguerite.boland@education.vic.gov.au

List of instruments for sale - 4 May 2025.pdf

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