Year 9

What a Week! 

Article by Josette Mercieca, Head of Year 9

This week’s Whispers article is proudly brought to you by the qualities our Year 9s have shown in abundance lately: hard work, determination and persistence. 

At our Year 9 Assembly on 19 December, we celebrated excellence in all its forms—recognising a whole year of effort, growth and talent. Every time we gather like this, I’m reminded of just how many opportunities our students have at Overnewton. From the huge range of electives to the chances to shine on the field, court or stage, there really is something for every student to discover and enjoy. 

A big congratulations to all students who received an award. But, as I mentioned in my closing address, I’m just as proud of the many students who may not have received a formal award but still tried their best, stepped outside their comfort zone and made real progress this year. That matters just as much. 

We’ve taken plenty of photos from the day, so if you’d like to see whether we captured your child in action, feel free to get in touch. 

Energy Breakthrough Challenge 

The weekend was another example of what our students are capable of. The Energy Breakthrough Challenge, a 24-hour endurance race, saw four of our teams head to Maryborough with their hybrid bikes to compete against hundreds of other students from across Victoria. After spending the year designing and working on their bikes in our Racing for the Future elective, all four teams managed to complete the full event—something we haven’t achieved in a while! 

The conditions were tough. The warm weather made the inside of the vehicles incredibly hot, and then the late-night rain brought its own challenges of low visibility, water spray and the tiredness that hits in the early hours of the morning. Morale could have easily dropped, but our students pushed through with amazing resilience. 

A huge thank you goes to our wonderful parent helpers. They cooked, set up camp, fixed bikes, encouraged our kids and then packed everything up again at the end. The sense of community was incredible and we really lived up to the “community” part of our College name. 

I’d also like to thank Mr Gatt and Mr Moore for their outstanding commitment. They guided the students through the bike-building process all year and then stayed up through the night during the race before helping with the massive pack-up afterwards. Their dedication made a huge difference. 

Each fortnight, the College Careers Team publishes a newsletter providing students and parents with the most up-to-date career information, events and opportunities.  

Please access via the following link.