Secondary School News 

From the Dean of Teaching and Learning, Kathryn Paul

Following the celebration and activities for Book Week 2021, there’s a lot happening in the world of reading and writing at John Wollaston including a visit from a highly accomplished Young Adult author and some outstanding success for our emerging writers at the recent Armadale Young Writers’ Awards 2021. 

Creative Writing Masterclass - Guest Author Kate McCaffrey

To promote Australia Reads 2021 we welcomed highly successful author Kate McCaffrey to the School to work with some of our Year 9 English students on Thursday 9 September. Australia Reads is a unique Australian book industry collaboration designed to promote the many benefits of reading books and encouraging the next generation of avid book readers to significantly increase book reading by all Australians, no matter the format they read. 

Kate visited the School to conduct a Creative Writing Masterclass with our Year 9s designed to instil in them a love of reading and writing.  Some of the writing experiences offered during the workshop included students using sensory imagery to represent a memory, using one word as a springboard for a mood piece, describing themselves in ‘the moment,’ and writing the exposition to a narrative using a recent news headline. Needless to say, ‘UK man tries to flee Australia on a jet ski’ proved the most popular stimulus for this activity for our students. 

As a writer of Young Adult Fiction, Kate also introduced students to the different published versions of her novel Destroying Avalon in other countries such as South Korea, Slovenia and the U.S. It was fascinating to listen to the different interpretations of the title and how the language and culture of these countries required alterations to some of the character names and even content prior to publication.

We were delighted to have the opportunity for Kate to share her love of reading and writing as an acclaimed author as part of Australia Reads 2021. Kate’s workshop inspired lots of enthusiasm and fantastic ideas for future creative story writing with our students.

Emerging Young Writers – Armadale Young Writers’ Awards 2021

Congratulations to Year 7 student, Lila De Sena for her recent achievement in the Armadale Young Writers’ Awards 2021. Lila obtained 1st place in the Years 7 to 8 category for her highly engaging and well crafted short story titled Remember These Times. Congratulations also to Lilia McCabe in Year 6 for achieving 3rd place in the Years 5 to 6 category for her impressive and thoughtful short story titled The End Journey. We commend both Lila and Lilia for their efforts and look forward to reading even more stories from these emerging young writers.

Best wishes for the remainder of the term. 

Kathryn Paul

Dean of Teaching and Learning

From the Dean of Pastoral Care, Kylie Virgo

Our commitment to providing opportunities for our students to enhance their wellbeing has continued this term, through spending time connecting with others, participating in House based activities or engaging in education sessions to develop their knowledge and skills. 

Wellbeing lessons

Students in Years 7 and 8 have continued working through the Aussie Optimism program. The Years 7s discussed the importance of expressing their feelings through verbal and non-verbal communication. They were given opportunities to practice responding to challenging situations in an assertive manner.  Students also discussed how assertiveness can be useful in expressing positive feelings or giving and receiving compliments. The Year 8s looked at various thinking styles and how they can be helpful or unhelpful. These activities allowed students to consider their ability to choose to have a helpful thinking style. 

The Year 9s have continued working through the Growing Mentally Tough Teens program, identifying the differences between Internal Locus of Control and External Locus of Control and exploring the areas in life we are concerned about but can’t control. 

In Week 7 our Years 8, 9 and 10 students participated in presentations to provide valuable learning experiences to develop skills in wellbeing and social matters. 

The Year 9s engaged in the Mental Notes presentation by Youth Focus, helping students understand that mental health issues can impact anyone but there are people to help. A key priority of the session was to de-stigmatise mental health issues and empower students to seek help and lead healthy and meaningful lives.

Anglicare continued the It Only Takes One program with our Year 12 students this week discussing the transition from school. Based on the PERMA approach to mental wellbeing students looked at ways they can continue this approach as they transition away from the structure of school.

Youth Choices

Our Year 8s and 10s participated in Youth Choices, an action-oriented education program helping students foster resilience and encouraging them to speak up and confidently enter into conversations about issues that are intrinsic to their health and wellbeing.

The Year 10s also took part in the Standing Out show which examines bullying and aggression, especially in regards to LGBTQI+ students. Students are encouraged to examine the impact of bullying on youth mental health, explore how they can be supportive to their peers and celebrate diversity.

The Year 8s participated in the Isolation show to discuss actions and their consequences in order to find better ways to address bullying behaviours.

We look forward to welcoming Youth Choices back later in the year to work with other year groups. 

Talking to your teen about vaping

Addressing current health and wellbeing concerns, students in Years 10 and 11 completed an education session on vaping. Designed from resources provided by Paul Dillon, an experienced drug educator and community speaker, the session provided accurate and up-to-date information and allowed students to discuss and consider the facts and risks associated with vaping. It also required the students to critically consider the techniques advertisers use to market their products. 

To read Paul's latest blog on vaping click here: Talking to your teen about vaping: How to prevent them starting or getting them to stop if they've already vaped (doingdrugs-darta.blogspot.com)

R U OK? Day

Our students engaged in R U OK? Day on Thursday 9 September with Secondary Prefects displaying posters around the School to raise awareness and distribute Lifeline contact cards to remind students there is always someone to talk to. The message behind R U OK? Day was a timely reminder for students following our recent Wellbeing lessons and presentations around the importance of checking in with family and friends and encouraging them to seek support if needed.

2021 House Cup

The House Cup competition is nearing its conclusion with the announcement of the winning House for Athletics and the upcoming final for the Inter-House Debating competition playing a vital role in the overall placings. We look forward to announcing the winning House for Athletics and Colours recipients at our Colours Assembly on Wednesday 22 September. 

Kylie Virgo

Dean of Pastoral Care

FIRST LEGO League Challenge

Written by: Stephen Fox, Head of Science and Technology and Chrisna LeVaillant, Secondary Science teacher. 

John Wollaston has registered two teams into the FIRST LEGO League (FLL) Challenge, one of the foremost STEM competitions run in over 110 countries with over 680,000 participants worldwide. With thanks to a generous donation from the Parents and Friends Association, the School has purchased two SPIKE Prime Kits and an additional two extension kits which will allow students to participate in the competition this year. 

Each of our school teams has six members, chosen from a group of 20 students who participated in STEM club during Semester 1. These students have shown how this supportive environment supports their growth in STEM and also as a team member. Each team consists of Primary School (Years 5 and 6) students, Middle School students (Years 7 to 9) and a leading Year 10 student. These students have committed themselves to the task and are excitedly working hard to complete all aspects of the competition.

Students attend Science classes each Thursday to work together for the FLL season. For more information regarding this season’s competition please visit https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/fll/game-and-season