Senior School Update

Assistant Principal's Update

Rachael White

What a term it's been! Between formals, fundraisers, R U OK? Day and everything in between, our Year 10, 11 and 12 students have had plenty to celebrate. Here's a look back at what's been happening, and what's still to come.

Year 11 and 12 

It's been a big few weeks for our senior ATAR cohort. Our Year 11 and 12 students well and truly dressed to the hilt for the Senior Formal (see the recap below), while the SAC period wrapped up for Year 12. Unit 3 and 4 students turned their attention to revision, with practice exams and end-of-year exams front of mind, and our Non-ATAR students mapped out their next steps with plenty of discussion and planning alongside our Careers team.

Our Year 11 and 12 students scrubbed up beautifully for the Senior Formal at Deoro By The Bay, Hastings, on Thursday 13 August, running from 7pm to 10.30pm. Students enjoyed canapés, snacks, dessert, soft drink and water, with the evening fully supervised by our Senior School Coordinators and staff throughout.

Excitement is also building for Year 12's end-of-year celebrations, with the last day and Valedictory on the horizon. A number of our Year 11 and 12 students got involved on stage and backstage, supporting the school production of Legally Blonde, while Year 12 students received some important “party safe” messaging delivered by the Red Frogs organisation. And of course, everyone got into the spirit for Book Week dress-up day!

R U OK? Day – Lunchtime Celebration

The Senior School Colour Run took place as part of our R U OK? Day lunchtime celebrations, raising funds for the Pride Foundation Australia in the fight against LGBTQIA+ discrimination. The Year 12 VM students who ran the fantastic event raised over $400s for the cause! 

Our VCE VM students put on a whole lunchtime of games, wellbeing activities and interactive stations in the courtyard — with a free sausage sizzle courtesy of Rotary, music and prizes. Everyone got behind wearing a splash of yellow for the day!

Lunchtime activities included:

1. 3x3 basketball and a free throw shoot-out at the Dream Courts

2. Giant chess in the Senior Courtyard

3. Student DJ and song requests in the Centre Courtyard

4. A jumbo chalk mural near the Art Room

5. Jump rope under the shade sails

6. Four square

7. A free sausage sizzle at the Staff Room entry

Year 10

Humanities Incursion

Students brought along an item that had special meaning to them and took turns sharing their story, while also getting hands-on cooking potato latkes. It was all in the lead-up to learning about William Cooper's march to the German Consulate in 1938 - half the group shared their story while the other half started cooking, then the two groups swapped over.

Safe Talk – Mental Health Safety Net

Mental Health Safety Net, a Mornington Peninsula charity supporting people struggling with mental health and thoughts of suicide, worked with our Year 10 students on practical, everyday skills — spotting the warning signs, asking directly, listening actively, and knowing where to find support. It's a message for everyone, because knowing how to help a friend can make a real difference.

Respect, Responsibility and Leadership

Throughout Term 3, all Year 10 students took part in a Respect, Responsibility and Leadership small-group program, supporting their personal growth, wellbeing and positive contribution to our school community. It gave students the chance to explore what respect and responsibility look like in practice, and to build leadership qualities that will serve them well at school and beyond.

Red Frogs – Party Safe

This hands-on program helped students spot the risks that can come up in party situations — think after-parties and music festivals — and gave them real strategies to make informed decisions and keep themselves and their mates safe. Drawing on their own experience as first responders at events like Schoolies, the Red Frogs team challenged some common assumptions around alcohol and drug use, and empowered students to be socially responsible.

Careers and Pathways

Year 10-12: ABCN Korn Ferry – Interview to Impress

Interview to Impress is a fantastic program for students keen to build the skills and confidence to nail a job interview. Students were paired with mentors who shared their own career experiences and helped build key interview skills, then put it into practice with mock interviews and got valuable feedback and coaching along the way. Everyone walked away feeling that bit more prepared for the real thing.

Students met at Frankston Station at 8:30am and were dismissed from the same spot at 3:00pm, in full school uniform and following our usual Mobile Phone and Sun Smart policies. Lunch was provided, and students brought a morning snack and water for the train trip.

VPC Memorial Garden

Students in the VPC have been considering various ways of expressing community belongingness through a collaboration with the SES Hasting Unit through a collaborative project in building a Memorial Garden space to honor the memories of SES members. Students in the VPC are visiting the Hastings SES every week to work on this project which involves a mix of landscaping tasks where students are applying a range of skills and gaining valuable real world experiences. When the students are not directly working on the memorial garden they are learning about the important work of the SES and some of the important skills they need as State Emergency Service volunteers such as knot work and casualty exfil. 

Our students commitment to the task and work ethic has been commended by the SES with Section Leader, Silvana Hobley describing the students as being “enthusiastic”, “respectful” and “outstanding”. Here at Western Port we are so proud of these students for displaying our college values of Community and Engagement in their work with the VPC while they work towards meeting the outcomes of their Personal Development Skills and Work Related Skills units. 

All this would not be possible without the generous support of Bunnings in Hastings and Everette Timber who have provided resources to support this project. 

Well done to the students of the VPC for representing the school so well and helping the SES who are such a valuable part of our local community. 

Upcoming Dates & Information

Here's what's coming up on the Senior School calendar:

School Captain Speech Assembly – Thursday 15 October

Year 12 Celebration Day – Thursday 22 October: More details to come.

2026 Valedictory Dinner – Wednesday 25 November: More details to come.