AROUND THE COLLEGE

WHC China Tour   27th March - 6th April

Our China tour last term started well with the group arriving safely in Shanghai the morning of 27th of March. The day was spent exploring beautiful Shanghai, the Bund, Pudong, the Shanghai Tower, and the Shanghai Acrobatic Performance and show. Everyone was tired from the overnight flight but enjoying a great time, the sights, and the food!

March 28

Day 2 was a great day experiencing school at our sister school, Nanjing Number 1 Middle School. A ride on the bullet train from Shanghai to Nanjing and a day at school left many feeling a little tired last night, but loving the experience.

March 29

A day of sightseeing for our students and staff in Nanjing on the 29th. They visited the Presidential Palace, Nanjing Fuzimiao (Confucian Temple), and the site of the former imperial examination hall. They also tried some ancient printmaking, and visited the city wall in Nanjing.

March 31

Our students spent their last day at the Number 1 Nanjing Middle School, and it was a fabulous day. Students did workshops on Traditional Chinese medicine, art craft on cloisonné, fancy skipping, and tennis. A few students; Ben, Charlie and Riv, also ran a PE lesson and taught AFL to the students at the Nanjing school.

April 1-2

Our China tour stayed 2 wonderful days in the fabulous city X’ian. The students explored the Muslim quarter markets dressed in traditional costume, enjoyed a formal meal, visited the world famous terracotta warriors, and rode bikes around the X’ian historic city wall.

April 3-4

Our China Tour landed in Beijing on the 3rd and visited the summer palace for the royal family during summer. They went onto a boat ride on the enormous artificial lake built by the Qing Dynasty royal family, before having dinner at a space lab restaurant where the food was delivered by UFO's on the track. The following day was spent further exploring Beijing. A few more days to go!

April 5

Beijing Hutong tour and traditional meal for lunch in village.

April 6

Last day in Beijing. Students learned  kicking Jian zi and diabolo with the locals in the community. They visited Tiananmen Square, followed by the forbidden city (the emperor’s palace for the last three dynasties in China). The weather was beautiful, they walked on a section of the Great Wall of China and enjoyed a Peking duck banquet for dinner. Now for the long flights home.

National Rowing Championships 30/3

Incredible news from Lake Barrington Tasmania on the 30th of March at the School National Rowing Championships. Tadgh and Zander Bailey won gold by over 8 secs in the Boys Double Scull A Final representing WHC. This is a first for our school community and we are very proud of both boys!

WMR Swimming Carnival 3rd March

Ava Caruana 

4th 100m Freestyle

6th 50m Breaststroke

Millie Evans

4th 50m Breaststroke

Finn Hynes-Carnegie

6th 50m Butterfly

VCE Volleyball

On Friday 21st March we had a VCE boys and girls Volleyball team compete in interschool Volleyball. Both teams had a couple of round robin matches and the opportunity to progress to finals. The consistency of the girl's team in their serving and defending of the court space left them undefeated in the round robin stage. They progressed to a semi-final against Northern Bay, where they fought hard but were unable to get the win.

The boys put in a stellar performance with the support of two of the girls to give the team the numbers to play, and were able to be competitive in their own matches. Overall, it was a great day to enjoy one of their final secondary school sporting events.

Huge congratulations to all 11 WHC 3X Cup teams who have officially qualified for the State Finals! Your hard work, teamwork and determination have paid off — we can’t wait to see you hit the court early next term.

In the first week of March, Western Heights College held the regional State Schools 

Spectacular rehearsal where many of our local primary schools and other secondary schools 

attended. Students were put through a rigorous day of choreography, learning a total of 5 different dances. We were lucky enough to have a visit from Hara the Dance Director of the 2025 State Schools Spectacular. Hara has performed in many stage productions both nationally and internationally, and has worked on TV shows and movies both as a choreographer and performer.

State Schools Spectacular is a live show that will be performed on September 13th at John

 Caine Arena, as well as broadcast on Channel 7. Over the next few weeks WHC students will be busy rehearsing and learning the extensive 8 dances.

Women in Sport 27/3

Our Principal Fiona Taylor, SSP Leader Renee Lane, College Captain Georgia Tyrrell, Vice Captain Nakiah Millar, and specialist netball students Ella Cook & Madi McCartney attended the Women in Sport Breakfast at GMHBA Stadium on the 27th of March. They had the incredible opportunity to hear from Olympic Gold Medallist Noémie Fox OAM, connect with inspiring individuals, and celebrate the power of women in sport!

Polly Farmer Exhibition 27/3

Australian football legend, Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer is being celebrated at the Geelong Sports Museum. Presented by the Museum and Bob Gartland OAM, the Museum’s latest exhibition includes artefacts and images from the Bob Gartland collection, and the Polly Farmer Foundation.

While Polly’s impact on football was significant, his greatest legacy is the Polly Farmer Foundation. Started in 1997 in the Pilbara with 23 students, the Foundation's Follow the Dream (FTD) program now empowers more than 3000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at 150 schools across Australia, including Western Heights College, to succeed at school and achieve their career aspirations. Our First Nations Leader Will Charles from 11B attended the exhibition launch on March 27th with his dad Amon, KESO Sarah and FTD Coordinator Georgia.

Kim Farmer, daughter of Polly Farmer and Vice Chair of the Polly Farmer Foundation said: “I am so proud for dad to be honoured in this exhibition. It celebrates his profound connection with Geelong and the Cats and coincides with the recent establishment of our first Follow the Dream programs in Geelong. We thank Bob Gartland OAM, who with honour and respect, holds dad’s football legacy closely, and we are delighted he shares some of it, for this exhibition.” POLLY will run for 12 months from March 2025 at the Geelong Sports Museum.

Be Bold Be Heard Girls Leadership Forum @ GMHBA stadium 28/3

Students at WHC are encouraged to ‘Call Out’ poor behaviours they may be exposed to, witness, or hear of in our community.

If you hear something that is not right, or feel uncomfortable in our community, we want to hear from you!

Students are encouraged to email their Year Level address, where concerns will be resolved.

Canteen

A reminder that the Canteen is ORDER ONLY for all main food items, such as salad rolls, sausage rolls, schnitzel burgers etc. The first 10 minutes of recess and lunch will be allocated to collection of food orders only. The canteen will then be open for any additional purchases of drinks and ice creams (Term 1 & 4).

The canteen accepts payment via phone before school but please remember that payment via phone is not accepted during school times.

*REMEMBER to order before 8.15am on the QKR! app or at the canteen before 8.45am

Term 2 2025 Menu

Western Heights Farm Shop

Our farm shop is open out the front of the school library, hosting beautiful produce to be purchased from our garden. We are open every day except Wednesday. Please bring cash.

All proceeds go back into the garden to keep it running. 

Please contact Vanessa Hucker on 0418 807 848 if you have any questions, or to check if we are open.

Library News

GEELONG REGIONAL LIBRARY HOURS

Monday: 8:30am - 4pm

Tuesday: 8:30am - 4pm

Wednesday: 8:30am - 7pm

Thursday: 8:30am - 4pm

Friday: 8:30am - 4pm

Saturday: 9am - 12pm

Sunday: Closed

OPEN FOR STUDENTS during school hours: 8:30am - 3:00pm, Monday - Friday.

GEELONG REGIONAL LIBRARY SCHOOL HOLIDAY HOURS

Monday: 9am - 3pm

Wednesday: 9am - 7pm

Saturday: 9am - 12pm

BOOKMARKS: WHC LIBRARY NEWS

Hello and welcome back to the library for Term 2. With the cooler months approaching, there isn’t anything better than getting stuck into a great book.

Our library display for this month celebrates books that have been made into movie and television adaptions. Our Book to Screen display is filled with books that are exciting series, fantasy wonders and amazing true stories; perfect to read on these cooler days.

• The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins

• Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

• The Maze Runner by James Dashner

• Lord of the Rings series by J.R.R. Tolkien 

• The Giver by Lois Lowry 

• Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

• Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Join the conversation in the library, what was better - the book or the movie?

STUDENT LIBRARY MONITORS

ATTENTION all students - are you passionate about reading, libraries, meeting like-minded people, and being creative and learning new skills? Enquire within the library about becoming a Library Monitor!

Our library monitors are an integral part of our library community who help with shelving books, assisting students with borrowing and returning books, covering new books, creating displays and posters, creating activities, and chatting all things books.

LIBRARY RULES AND EXPECTATIONS

1. No computer, video or phone games allowed in the library. The library is a great space to chill with a book, play some chess, play a boardgame, and heaps of other fun activities.

2. Respectful and appropriate behaviour towards library staff, teachers, and students. Any student that displays rude or disrespectful behaviour will be banned from the library.

GEELONG REGIONAL LIBRARY NEWS

New to our Geelong Library collection at our branch is the Read Now collection. 

The Read Now collection is made up of popular titles to Geelong Libraries that are available to borrow now.

• There are no reservations, or waitlists; what is available on the shelf is available for loan

• 2-week loan for quick turnaround

• Can be returned to any Geelong Regional Library branch

• At our library branch we have the adult titles. Other branches where you can find the Read Now collections are Bannockburn Library, Colac Library, Leopold Library, and Geelong Library and Heritage Centre.