From the Principal

This week we launched the Year 7-10 Art Show. As someone who is artistically challenged and cannot draw a stick figure correctly, I am in awe of the amazing talented artists we have amongst our students and staff. It was great to see families coming to view students work, despite the weather. Thank you to the Art Department. 

Next week, I invite families of students from Year 8-10 to join us for the Course Information Evening. Year level assemblies have provided some information about the subjects and courses offered for next year and more can be found by attending Tuesday evening from 5.30-7.30pm starting in the Learning Centre and then moving to the Robert Herbert Gym, where you can speak directly with staff about subjects, including VET.

We are in the process of updating our policies in line with Department of Education guidelines. A new policy has been developed, ‘Preventing and Addressing Racism in Schools’, which will soon appear on our school’s website for the community to view. The following excerpt provides information at the local level.

‘Mornington Secondary College is committed to fostering a welcoming, inclusive environment where racism is not tolerated. Racism harms students’ mental health, learning and sense of belonging. We celebrate the diversity of cultures, ethnicities and faiths of all our students. It is up to all of us to make our school a place that is free of racism and where everyone feels respected and can learn in a safe and inclusive environment.

What Mornington Secondary College is doing to prevent racism 

Mornington Secondary College follows the Department of Education’s Preventing and Addressing Racism in Schools Policy. We are building a culturally safe school with inclusive learning for everyone by working with staff, students, families, carers and communities. We will:

• provide programs that teach about and celebrate diversity, inclusion and the impact of racism to build understanding and empathy
• use practices that support all students to thrive
• implement anti-racism efforts to prevent and address racism effectively
• make sure everyone feels safe, with clear and accessible pathways to report racism

What to do if your child experiences or witnesses racism at school

If your child experiences or witnesses racism or religious discrimination at school, please let us know.

Report Racism hotline

If you don’t feel comfortable reporting racism to school, or you are not happy with the school’s response, you can report racism to:

• the Department of Education’s Report Racism hotline via email report.racism@education.vic.gov.au or phone 1800 722 476 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm) 
• Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc. (VAEAI) via email vaeai@vaeai.org.au or phone 03 9481 0800 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm)
• Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission (VEOHRC) online, via email complaints@veohrc.vic.gov.au or phone 1300 292 153 (Monday to Friday 10am to 2pm).

For additional support following an incident of racism: 

• First Nations students, staff or families can contact Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc. (VAEAI) 
• Jewish students, staff or families can contact the Jewish Community Council of Victoria 
• Muslim students, staff or families can contact the Islamic Council of Victoria

For more information about how to report racism to the school, and to get information in community languages, visit this website: Report racism or religious discrimination in schools. 

If you need an interpreter to call the school, please use the details available at: Guide for Families: How to use an interpreter to contact your school.

How Mornington Secondary College will respond to racism

When you report a racist incident, Mornington Secondary College will:

• take your report seriously and act quickly
• give you ongoing support
• investigate and respond safely and appropriately
• keep you informed, while respecting privacy
• review the incident to help avoid it from happening again’.

Thankyou for your continued support. We are a great community working together so our young people can achieve success.

Linda Stanton

Principal

Important Dates

Term 2 2025

Term 3 2025

Middle School

Dear Parents and Carers,

Today we are celebrating 100 Days of Secondary School with our wonderful Year 7 students! It’s a full day of fun-filled activities designed to bring the year level together and build a strong sense of community. Our Year 7s are a delightful group who embrace every opportunity to connect and have fun.

The celebration includes creative activities such as making hearts and paper lanterns, and the students have come to school with some fantastic crazy hairstyles—there’s been plenty of excitement about that! We also have trivia games, a sausage sizzle, “100 Seconds to Win It,” and many more fun challenges. Be sure to check your child’s bag this afternoon for a special memento. We hope they come home full of stories and joy from the day.

Year 8

Mr Pirrie and Ms Rattue have recently uploaded some fantastic photos from the zoo excursion. Students’ achievements are being celebrated by adding their photos to our “Knowledge Tree,” and it’s been lovely to see how much they enjoy seeing these new additions to their learning space.

Our Year 8s have also been actively participating in winter sports competitions against local schools, showing great teamwork and school spirit.

Today Year 8 students will attend an assembly focused on Year 9 course selection. We’re also looking forward to welcoming families to our Course Information Evening on Monday, July 1st at 5:30pm in the Learning Centre. After the principal’s presentation, students are welcome to explore the Robert Herbert Gym, where subject displays will be set up. Teachers will be available to answer questions and help students consider their elective choices.

Year 9

Year 9 students are currently focusing on pathways and careers. This week's assembly centred on Year 10 course information and course counselling. Students are beginning to consider their transition into the senior school and reflect on their future goals.

This week, students have also engaged in career conversations using the Morrisby tool, which helps them better understand their strengths and opens a world of career possibilities.

The Art Show

Last night, our school Art Show was held and featured an impressive range of work from our Year 8 and 9 students (and other year levels) The quality and creativity on display was outstanding. We are so proud of the talent within our student body.

Learning Focus

While we enjoy celebrating these events and activities, our focus on learning remains unwavering. We expect every student to come prepared for every lesson, work hard, and meet deadlines consistently.

There is a strong focus across the school on high-impact, evidence-based teaching strategies. In the primary years, this includes a continued emphasis on phonics. In the secondary years, we are focusing on cognitive load theory, working memory, long-term memory, and explicit instruction. We are aligning our teaching and learning approach with the new Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0, and we are excited about the improvements this will bring for our students.

Wishing you all a great week ahead.

Warm regards,

Denise Leggett

Assistant Principal

Senior School

To students and families of the Mornington Senior School,

Health and good learning outcomes

As the weather has suitably turned a bit wintry this week, it is a good reminder for our students to take steps to protect their health as they approach a critical section of their schooling. While we are technically past the winter solstice and the sun is setting a little later each day, the need for getting enough sleep, staying active, eating well, and taking time to manage stress haven’t changed. They aren’t just good habits — they directly impact memory, concentration, and emotional wellbeing. When students take care of their bodies, they give themselves the best chance to stay focused, retain what they’ve learned, and approach challenges with clarity and resilience.

This doesn’t mean we suddenly allow non-uniform items to be worn (except for the recent Year 12 dress as a famous person day – on which our 12s wore some brilliant costumes!) but rather that students should make use of layers. Senior school student all have use of facilities (and the canteen) to enable them to have hot lunches if they so choose, and all classrooms have heating. So please rug up when you go the footy, netball or basketball on the weekends, be covered up on your way to and from school using a range of warm uniform options and then be comfortable in the fact you can be warm while at school!

Attendance requirements for VCE

While it is obvious through years of our data that good attendance correlates with better student outcomes, there is also a policy surrounding VCE attendance (relevant to both VCE ATAR and VM). As we have started in Unit 2 & 4, I thought a reminder of that policy would be timely. Meeting the attendance requirements is the easiest part of VCE and doesn’t require any great knowledge or skill, just some resilience. 

Excerpt from the Mornington SC Senior School Handbook:

Mornington Secondary College students are expected to attend at least 95% of their timetabled classes to have the best chance of achieving their personal best. Mornington students must attend a minimum of 90% of scheduled classes to meet the VCE attendance requirement. This includes Year 10 students completing an accelerated VCE class. 

Students are required to attend a minimum of 90% of classes in each subject. Absences should be supported by medical documents, or the absence has been approved under special provisions by the student’s Year Level Team. Regular attendance is essential to enable coursework tasks to be completed, mainly in class time, thus ensuring authenticity of student work assessed. 90% attendance equates to approximately a maximum of seven non-approved periods missed per unit (semester-based). Staff, students, and parents can check attendance using Compass and the VCE% column. 

Family holidays, parent approved absences and work commitments are not VCE approved absences. 

Where a student has completed coursework and assessment, but there is a substantive breach of class attendance, the student may be awarded an ‘N’ for that Unit. All attendance based ‘N’ decisions will be recommended by the Senior School progress committee and signed off by the Senior School Assistant Principal.

Absences 

An approved absence may be: 

• an illness which requires medical treatment and for which there is a valid medical certificate. 
• an approved college excursion, camp or sporting event or; 
• a serious problem of which the relevant Year Level Leader has been notified, and which can be shown to have resulted in the student suffering significant hardship. 

Course Selection Information Night – Final reminder!

My final reminder about the Course Information Evening that is being held on Tuesday the 1st July from 5:30pm in the Learning Centre (and then moving into the subject expo in the Herbie Gym). Course counselling and pathways decisions can be the most important decisions students make in their secondary schooling and while it isn’t always possible to ensure students (or parents or staff) will make the right decisions, we can absolutely ensure those decisions are informed.

You can’t possibly ask too many questions, and once the information has been gathered it is up to students and families to work with course counselling staff to determine the path forward. Decisions should always be guided by what students like, what they are good at (based on performance data) and then what links to their preferred potential pathway (if known).

I look forward to seeing you all on the night.

One week until holidays!

Key Senior School events - Term 2

Kind regards,

Nick Evans

Senior School Assistant Principal

By all reports things are looking good!

Teachers are in the last stages of finalising student reports for Semester 1. I thought I might take a few moments to take you through what is on the report.

Each subject studied by a student receives a report. For Year 7 to 10 the report has a standards cover sheet which helps you see your child’s progress since the last reporting period. 

The report itself has the class name and teacher at the top, it then has the class attendance listed as a percentage. In terms of attendance, with most classes running 4 sessions per week attendance should be in the 90% plus range, attendance of 75% means the student has been absent for one quarter of the classes!

The next section lists the Victorian Curriculum levels (Year 7 -10) for this specific subject (the ones on the cover page are often summarised from multiple reports). In this area you should be seeing growth represented by a white dot (previous level) joined to a black dot (current level) joined by a dotted line. No growth should cause you to have a discussion with your child!  If the unit is a VCE study then you will see the outcomes which will be either satisfactory or unsatisfactory. Students must be assessed as satisfactory for each outcome to be awarded the unit.

Next will be the Learning Tasks. These are pivotal tasks which students have completed throughout the semester. The comments are created at the time the tasks were completed and reflect the skills the students have demonstrated. Students are graded using different scales based on the year level and study type. These are outlined in the opening section of the report. 

Finally there is a section where teachers have made recommendations for future learning growth.

A lot of effort goes into preparing student reports, please take the time to review your child’s report with them and help them come up with a plan for how to put those new strategies in place for next semester.

Mike Parker

Assistant Principal - Curriculum and Student Wellbeing

Students of the Week

Year 7 Marlin Breese 

Favourite food: Pizza

Hobbies out of school: Shopping, and I walk the dog

What sports team do you follow? I go for the Geelong Cats

Favourite TV show: The Thundermans

Do you have any pets? I have 2 dogs named Bingo and Emit

What do you enjoy most about being at Mornington Secondary College? I enjoy doing art club and I really like my classes

What career do you wish to follow when you finish school? An artist 

Year 7 Mia Almond 

Favourite food: Home-made pizza

Hobbies out of school: Art, Drawing and story writing  

What sports team do you follow? My family go for Hawthorn 

Favourite TV show: I like watching Ghosts the tv series. My favourite movie is Coraline

Do you have any pets? No pets

What do you enjoy most about being at Mornington Secondary College? I like how there are a lot of opportunities and new things to try

What career do you wish to follow when you finish school? I’d like to be an author one day that would be my dream

Year 8 Emily Cooper 

Favourite food: Doper Zero pizza

Hobbies out of school: Running, swimming, aerobics

What sports team do you follow? Geelong, All Blacks

Favourite TV show: Stranger Things

Do you have any pets? Guinea Pig

What do you enjoy most about being at Mornington Secondary College? Great teachers

What career do you wish to follow when you finish school? Vet

Year 8 Hannah Cooper

Favourite food: Kiwi fruit

Hobbies out of school: Running, swimming, aerobics

What sports team do you follow? Geelong, All Blacks

Favourite TV show: Gilmore Girls

Do you have any pets? Guinea Pig

What do you enjoy most about being at Mornington Secondary College? Learning, friends

What career do you wish to follow when you finish school? Teacher, paramedic, paediatric nurse

Course Information Evening - Tuesday July 1st

A must attend event for all 2025 Year 8-11 students and parents. This is the best opportunity to speak to teachers about different subjects, the careers team about different pathways, and school leaders, about anything you want to know. Making informed decisions starts with getting all the information from nights like this one. 

Our Course Information Evening provides 2025 Year 8-11 families and students the opportunity to collect information that will help them with 2026 Subject Pre-Selection, which opens online Wednesday 2nd July and closes Wednesday 30th July.

The Course Information Evening will run from 5.30-7.30pm:

• 5.30pm arrival in LC1
• 5.45pm 15 minute information session in LC2
• 6-7.30pm Subject Information Exhibition in Robert Herbert Gym

2025 Production FROZEN JR - Tickets on Sale

Tickets are available to purchase now - DON'T MISS OUT!  Remember we have a sing-a-long session on our open night so you can join in the fun!

When:        Tuesday 5 August 2025 SING-A-LONG SESSION     7-8:30pm

                     Wednesday 6th and Thursday 7th August 2025     7-8:30pm

                     Saturday 9th August 2025     2-3:30pm

Location:   Performing Arts Theatre, 1051 Nepean Highway, Mornington Vic 3931

Tickets can be purchased via trybooking, on the below link.

Applied Learning - Term 2

Victorian Trades Hall Council 

On Tuesday May 15th, Year 12 VCE VM students attended the Victorian Trades Hall Council in Carlton. Students are undertaking Unit 3 Work Related Skills studies which explore rights and responsibilities in the workplace as well as how to seek support and the role of Unions. Our VCE VM students completed workplace discrimination and bullying modules as well as went on a tour of the facility. 

Trade and Tech Expo

On Tuesday June 3rd, Year 10 and 11 students that identify as female or non-binary were invited to attend the Women’s Trade and Tech Fit Expo at the Melbourne Convention Centre. Students had a great time exploring the trade opportunities, food tastings and collecting information about future career pathways and opportunities that are traditionally male dominated. 

Retail Cosmetics

Our VET Retail Cosmetic students enjoyed creating fantasy eye make up during their coursework at their class earlier this month. 

Year 11 VCE VM Interviews

During the recent exam period, Year 11 VCE VM students were required to participate in interviews to present their VET, Structured Workplace Learning placement and Unit 1 subjects. Students formed panels and presented to peers as well as their teachers, with opportunities for feedback and questions. This process is a great way for students to finalise Unit 1 studies as well as build employability skills. 

Kate Wilson

Head of VCE VM

Southern Metropolitan Region Cross-Country Championships

On Wednesday June 25 Mornington Secondary College proudly sent 17 dedicated students to represent the school at the Southern Metropolitan Cross-Country Championships held at Ballam Park, Frankston. This event brought together the region's top athletes, and qualifying was an outstanding achievement in itself.

The day proved to be a formidable challenge, with competitors facing adverse weather conditions, including rain, strong winds, and hail. 

Despite these obstacles, our students demonstrated remarkable resilience and sportsmanship. They not only persevered through the harsh elements but also showcased exceptional athleticism and determination.

Their performances were a testament to their hard work and commitment. Each athlete represented Mornington Secondary College with pride and distinction, embodying the true spirit of sportsmanship.

Unfortunately, some of our top runners were unable to run on the day due to injury; Andrew Turver, Jess Mathews, Ben Alston, Mathis Minnameier, Ella Holcombe, Kai Peel and Kendal Christie. 

We had some sensational results as follows:

Congratulations to the following students who have progressed through to the State Cross-Country Championships to be held on Thursday the 24th of July. 

• The U15 Boys Team - 1st place. Traditionally there are four runners in a cross-country team, however, with our unfortunate injuries, MSC only had three representatives in the U15 Boys Team. Despite the smaller team, MSC still managed to win the event. Congratulations Ethan, Rafa and Bailey on an outstanding achievement!
• Ethan Sheen - 1st
• Rafa Merchan - 6th
• Bailey Barret - 8th
• Hannah Cooper - 6th
• Amelia Pascuzzo - 8th

Alex Mackenzie

Year 7 Coordinator

Year 11 VM Assembly

The Year 11 VM students had an assembly Thursday June 26th to celebrate the start of Semester 2. We also looked back at Semester 1 and presented Values Awards for their subjects. 

Our VM students have achieved real success in obtaining Satisfactory grades for their four subjects. Our attendance has been excellent and students with 90% and above attendance were highlighted with a random prize given. Our VM students applauded the winners and it was wonderful to see how well they have been doing.

Dr Keough

Team Leader Year 11

Year 8 Sport

Girls Soccer

On Tuesday June 24th the Year 8 Girls Soccer Team ventured to Civic Reserve to play 2 games at the School Sports Victoria Soccer Competition at Division level. 

The first game was against Dromana. It was a fierce competition. Congratulations to Charlotte Davies, who scored an amazing goal in the second half. All players worked hard and achieved their goals for the day.

The last game was against Mount Eliza. The weather conditions didn't help our game. However, the girls still played very well. Big congratulations to our 2 goalies. Fun was had by the whole team, and we went home with a smile on our faces. Great work girls!

Kirsty Hamson

Japanese/Drama/Personal Development Teacher

Boys Badminton

On Tuesday 24th June the Year 8 Boys and Girls Southern Peninsula Division Badminton Championships were held at our school. We had a boys team representing the college in the competition. 

The boys represented the college with great skill and sportsmanship. They had two wins against Dromana SC 5-1 and Somerville SC 4-2 and two losses against Western Port 6-0 and Mt Eliza SC 4-2. Overall, the boys placed 3rd in the competition with Western Port being declared the champions.

Year 8 Boys Badminton team: Jackson Sweatman, Lucas Dekleuver, Seth Glasgow, Connor McKenzie, Hudson Park

John Walker

Team Coach

Boys AFL

On Tuesday June 24th the Year 8 Boys Football team travelled to Mt Eliza to play in a pool with Mt Eliza and Westernport. Unfortunately with only 14 players it was always going to be a struggle. To their credit, the boys never gave up and performed well as a team, but the scores were very heavily favoured to the opposition. Best players on the day were Tom Milburn, Kenji Edwards andLucas Coutts.

Adam Pirrie

Year 8 Team Leader

Girls Netball

Year 8 Girls Netball played on Tuesday June 24th against five other schools. Both teams played very well through the cold, windy conditions. Team A managed to come out in second place overall. Shout out to the coaches Lacey and Abby for leading these girls through an awesome day.

Ruby Woodward

Health & PE Teacher

Boys Soccer

It was a wet and windy day for the Year 8 Boys Soccer down at Civic Reserve. Well undermanned, the boys put on a massive display of class and sportsmanship despite their numbers, to come away from the competition with four goals between them, two losses and a tightly contested draw. Massive props to star players Jake Field, Oscar Su and Mason Keisoglu.

Lewis Lynch

Humanities Teacher

Staff vs Student Basketball Game

On Monday 23rd June, the Year 10 team held their charity event for 2025, raising money for MSC's chosen charity HomeGround through a sausage sizzle, whilst drawing a crowd at the Staff v Students Basketball Game.

Thanks to the students who purchased sausages and drinks for such a good cause. Special thanks goes to our Staff, including Mr Evans, Mr Malligan, Mr Dean, Mr Lynch, Mr Johnson and Rory for putting themselves out there to take on some eager students on the courts, and thank you to Mr Olarenshaw for refereeing.

I would like to personally thank our Year 10 Captain, Seung L, for his hard work on the BBQ to prepare the sausages. Thanks also goes to our Year 10 helpers Kayla T, Ciara C and Lucinda T who supported the cooking effort.

Final thank-you's go to Mr Lynch and Mrs Cameron who assisted at the BBQ, along with some Year 11 students who are required to partake in an event such as this to meet the requirements for VM Work Related Skills. Those students were Maddy O, Jaynha W, Ruby C, Marlee R, Maddi C, and Sienna K. Their help taking orders, collecting money and serving students was exemplary and we were happy to have them and support them in their assessment.

Jake Uhlenberg

Team Leader Year 10

Year 12 Dress Up Day - Celebrities and Famous 

On Tuesday June 24, the Year 12 cohort held a Dress up Day: 'Celebrities, Movie Characters and the Famous!' to raise funds to support our school's charity HomeGround Cafe. As usual, the students all got involved.  The Kardashians were here, Pitbull, Donald Trump, Freddie Mercury, David Bowie, Kath and Kim also rocked the red carpet.  The celebrities did not stop there!

Thank you to everyone, staff and students, for a great day and getting involved for a great cause.  

Jo Reeman

Year 12 Team Leader

Morrisby Unpacking Interviews

My Career Insights (Morrisby) is designed to help students discover, develop, and drive their career planning.  It's a unique opportunity for our Year 9 students to learn more about their strengths and abilities, while exploring potential career options - giving them the confidence to start taking control of their future. 

Earlier this Term, our Year 9 students used dedicated class-time to complete a series of online aptitude questions using the online platform ‘Morrisby’ website. Once students, completed aptitude questions, each Year 9 student received an individualised report that presented several occupations of interest that match their abilities, interests, and personality.

This week our Year 9 students participated in one on one career consultations, online using platform ‘Webex’ with a Morrisby-trained Career Practitioner, to unpack their report and provide career guidance on potential career pathways. 

The final stage of the Morrisby My Career Insights Program leads perfectly into the Mornington Secondary College Course Information Evening, to be held on Tuesday 1st July. The Course Information Evening is the best opportunity to learn about the subjects MSC have on offer for 2026 and how they relate to the learnings from the Morrisby Profiling. Our teachers, school leaders and career pathways will all be attending to Course Information Evening to offer guidance and answer any questions our students and families may have on the night. 

Kylie Lebrasse

Careers Practitioner

Winter holiday programs 

To learn more or to reach out to us