Year 9 News

Congratulations to our newly elected Class Captains for 2025:

It’s been a super busy start to 2025 for our Year 9 students, with a newly updated space, electives, CONNECT and plenty of new faces in the teaching team.

Year 9 students engage with the CONNECT program every Monday, where they work with their peers in their homegroups and across the year level to CONNECT. 

We have begun our exploration of self and connection to culture. CONNECT days also see opportunities for presentations and incursions to occur which will teach our students valuable skills and lessons. To kick start this unit of work all students in Year 9 cast their handprints on the wall at the entrance of building A. Students have continued to celebrate and respect the space.

Students participated in day long programs, Mancave and the Workshop which focused on expectations, gender roles, resilience and identity. Based on the Rites of Passage framework, the workshops create safe spaces for participants to have real conversations with each other. They included group-building activities, interactive games and healthy discussions on mental health, relationships and consent. 

CONNECT staff and program facilitators were impressed with the students' focus, maturity and representation of our college.

Members of the Victorian Police worked with our students to educate them about crime prevention providing context and statistics to protect our students. How to interact with members of the Police force was discussed and modelled, and included being respectful, being able to engage in conversation and being able to take on advice provided. Students were taught the difference between various crimes and how they can impact their lives.

This week our students also interacted with Australian singer-songwriter Scott Darlow who shared stories about his Indigenous culture, community and traditions.

It’s important to recognize how recent history has shaped the Australia we know today, and Scott Darlow helped highlight that gap. By making the information relatable, he not only educated students but also urged them to reflect on the ongoing effects of history on the lives of many Indigenous people. 

The way Scott engaged with the audience made the subject more impactful, and I am sure it will inspire meaningful actions among the students, even down the line.

Next week our students will engage in Taster sessions for the Immersive subjects which run during term 2 and term 4. The Immersive subjects will run all day on a Monday and aim to bring students closer to their community, and culture whilst making connections to school and their peers. The skills they learn and develop in these subjects are transferable and will help them as they prepare to enter the workforce. Students will also choose their electives on this day.

We are excited about the possibilities that we have in working with our students and look forward to the year ahead.