9-12 Community News

Last week saw the end of the examination period for our current Year 12 cohort. No doubt this moment brought great relief, but was also a moment they will later be able to reflect upon with great pride. VCE can feel like a long journey but, after reaching the end of this stage of their lives, the class of 2025 can rightfully look back and celebrate the strength, resilience and perseverance they have shown in pushing their way through to the end.  

Last Thursday evening, our Year 12s celebrated the end of their exams with family, friends and staff. Leaving their uniforms, books, laptops and pens behind, the students came together to share the moment of collective pride, relief and excitement as they signalled the end of their secondary school years. Following Mass, the students and their families made their way to Dungala Event Centre in Moama, to celebrate the evening with the significant people in their lives. 

On Monday, our Year 11 cohort participated in the two workshops presented by Darren Pereira from Success Integrated. The first session was all about study skills and being your B.E.S.T. Darren talked to the students about setting goals, managing their time, establishing effective study habits, skills and techniques, neuroplasticity and growth mindset.  

The second session for the day was the ‘Leadership Challenge’ workshop. 

This workshop was designed to prepare our students for their final year of school where they will all be looked upon as leaders of our College – badge or not! 

The course was aimed to help our students create meaning around leadership and leadership behaviour, understand the importance of leading by example and develop a vision, inspire each other to take action, build strong relationships and develop a strong and positive mindset. 

Topics covered included: 

• Servant Leadership 

• Re-defining Leadership 

• Small things can make a big difference 

• Leading without a badge 

• Setting the tone – Culture 

• Leaving a Legacy 

• Together Everyone Achieves More - working as a TEAM 

There were many valuable messages to take away from the presentation and we look forward to seeing the Year 11s taking on the mantle of school leaders and role models in 2026. 

It was with great excitement that the Year 11 students received their Year 12 Rugby Jumpers. We think they all look pretty great! 

The Kwong Lee Dow Young Scholars Program is a prestigious University of Melbourne program for high achieving students in Year 10, allowing them to be involved in academic enrichment activities at the university, to meet with peers from schools all across Victoria and to gain insights into tertiary institutions as they complete their VCE studies. Students are selected to be a part of this program when they are in Year 10 and continue in the KLD Young Scholars Program through Years 11 and 12.  

To be accepted into this program is a significant recognition of the student’s application to their studies and their contribution to their school community as a leader.  

We are very proud to announce that Shylee has been accepted into the Kwong Lee Dow program for 2026/27. Congratulations to Shylee.  

The Years 10 and 11 Exams were completed last week. The students should be congratulated on the way they conducted themselves during the week. Completing exams in these years is vital in preparing students for the requirements of their Units 3 & 4 VCE subjects.  

Following exams, our 10s and 11s have begun their Early Commencement Program (ECP). The aim of our ECP is for staff and students to get to know each other in preparation for a smooth start to the 2026 VCE academic year. Staff will have the opportunity to learn about their student’s different learning styles and develop strategies that might be used to help plan curriculum and learning activities for the following year. To enable students to get the most out of their ECP classes, we ask that students come to classes with all of the necessary textbooks, equipment and stationery to begin their classes. If any families have encountered delays in receiving their booklist orders before ECP begins, please let your TAs know so that we can provide assistance. 

December 9th will be the State-wide Orientation Day, when students in all classes will ‘step up’ to their 2026 year level. For our 9-12 students, that means that our current Year 9 students will complete a day of Year 10 classes and the 2025 Year 8 students will complete a day of Year 9 classes. 

As we approach the end of year, we encourage students to continue their positive focus right until the end. With only a few weeks to go until the end of the academic year, we encourage all of our students to set themselves the goal of finishing their year well. 

Over the past few weeks, we have had a number of students from the 9-12 community pathway into employment. This is a fantastic outcome for our students and we wish them all the best for their future. 

Thank you for your support during 2025, this will be our last newsletter contribution as the 9-12 Community Leaders at St Augustine's’ College, Kyabram. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season.