Principal Team Report
Creating Futures Together
We are now heading towards the midpoint of Term 2! Whilst we have had some extremely mild days, we know all too well that the weather will turn and grace us with the Melbourne winters chills! As we transition into the cooler months it is worth reminding families that we now have a WHSC beanie and puffer Jacket that is available from Lowes. These are additional items that we introduced to facilitate extra warmth over the winter months. Non-uniform items such as hoodies are not to be worn to school and the addition of the above-mentioned items will add that extra layer of warmth for all students. We thank all families for their ongoing support of our College dress code.
Further to this, you may have heard some coverage in the media regarding the Department’s decision to remove logos from various uniform items. We are working with our supplier to navigate this change, but we wish to reassure families that all existing uniform items will remain in place and unchanged for the foreseeable future. We believe the change will impact more on the production of logo uniform items (below the waist, such as shorts, pants and socks) from 2026.
ReDesign4Her Hackathon
We’re thrilled to share the success of a group of our students who recently participated in the Redesign for Her Hackathon, hosted by Monash University. This dynamic and thought-provoking event invited young female-identifying students from across Victoria to explore how design and innovation can be reimagined to better meet the needs of women and girls.
The hackathon was inspired by a growing awareness that many everyday products, systems, and technologies have been historically designed, tested, and optimised for men—often overlooking the unique experiences, bodies, and needs of women. From safety in public spaces to health tracking apps, there are countless areas where inclusive design can make a meaningful difference.
Over the course of the day, our students worked in teams to brainstorm and prototype innovative, female-friendly solutions to real-world challenges. We’re incredibly proud to announce that two of our student teams were recognised for their outstanding ideas, winning 2nd and 3rd place in a highly competitive field.
This experience not only fostered creativity and critical thinking but also empowered our students to use design thinking to advocate for equity and inclusion. The confidence, collaboration, and leadership they demonstrated were inspiring, and a testament to the power of student voice in shaping a better future.
Congratulations to all involved—your ideas truly have the potential to make a difference! A huge thank you to our Learning Specialist Abbey Novak for her commitment to making this happen for our students and to Melissa Mandarino for also supporting the students on the day.
Cast and Crew from the College Production attended the annual production camp a few weekends ago. During this time, they were able to rehearse and refine their craft though a series of sessions conducted over the 2 days. On behalf of the College, I would like to thank Nicholas Gramatakos and his Production Team for providing this fantastic opportunity for our students. We look forward to the finished product, “High School Musical” and encourage everyone to attend this wonderful event.
See Trybooking for ticket purchases.
Last week the Principal Team attended the annual Monash Manningham Network Conference. This event provided the important opportunity for Principal teams to step away from their day-to-day duties for a period of time so they can reflect upon and further build their knowledge and capacities to lead their respective schools. The conference was once again held at the RACV Cape Schanck. Over the 2 busy days, we were privileged to hear from several highly respected educational speakers, with the theme being “Thriving Culture, Empowered Leadership.” Through listening and interacting with these speakers we were able to disrupt and challenge our own thinking and consider our clarity of purpose and intentional focus all while understanding the human aspect of our leadership within each of our respective settings. Simon Breakspear was inspirational to listen to and discussed the importance of not trying to do too much all at once; his refers to this as the “Pruning Principle”. This provocation provided us with the opportunity to reflect and think about all we doing and prune back to focus on what really counts and doing it well. Whilst this sounds very much common sense, despite leaders’ best efforts (underpinned by good intentions), we are all guilty at times of trying to do too much all at once and trying to be everything to everyone. Yes, we need to focus on the important things, do them well and not get caught up in the noise that can impact upon our effectiveness.
In essence the 3 phases of the Pruning Cycle are:
Critically EXAMINE - review the landscape
Consciously REMOVE - subtract with care
Carefully NUTURE - cultivate what matters
A quote provided at the conference that resonated with me, “The essence of effective leadership is stopping doing good things, so we have more time to spend on even better things.”
Professor Dylan Wiliam
Now the federal election has been and gone, we can now disclose that over the weekend prior to the election, the New Century School hosted a visit from the Prime Minster Anthony Albanese. We are really proud that Mr Albanese was able to visit our school and see our wonderful College first hand.
VCE Reminders
The General Assessment Test (GAT) will take place on Tuesday 17th June
Please refer to the link for further information:
https://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/assessment/general-achievement-test/gat-overview
A reminder to all VCE students and their families that Units 2 and 4 will commence on Tuesday 10th June.
A Note from the College Nurse
As we head into the flu season, please be mindful of the following recommendations from DE the Health Department:
COVID - report it, keep home for 5 days. Students can return if symptom free after the isolation period.
Influenza - Encourage influenza vaccination for your child as there has been an increase in influenza cases amongst students in last few weeks.
Colds like symptoms - Keep unwell students' home and if symptoms persist consult G.P. for a medical review.
Notify college nurse if your child has a confirmed case of COVID or influenza call 9561 5811 and ask to speak to the Nurse or ask for a call back from the Nurse.
It is important for health of staff and students that keeping an unwell student home is in the best interest of all.
Congratulations
On behalf of the Wheelers Secondary College community, we would like to congratulate long serving staff members on their recent milestones:
Peter Stone for 50 years of service to Education
Yiota Anthanasiou for 40 years of service to Education
Judith Riddoch for 40 years of service to Education
Judy Anderson
Assistant Principal