PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Another busy fortnight of learning and it’s hard to believe we are almost halfway through Term 2. I trust all our mums and those who are carers or ‘mum’-like figures to our students, enjoyed the beautiful weather on the weekend. Life has been hectic as WHC, and we have so many great things to celebrate.

Education Week

As we celebrate Education Week from Sunday 14 to Saturday 20 May, with the theme of ‘Active learners: move, make, motivate’, we recognise and applaud the quality of the work done by teachers, support staff and leaders in all of our schools every day.

Schools are communities and communities are based on relationships. As we celebrate Education Week this year, I want to recognise and express my appreciation for the work done by our staff in our school. This is because it is the relationships and teamwork between teachers, support staff and leaders that are just as important as our individual efforts in enabling us to support the learning and wellbeing of every student in our care every day.

Year 12 VCE Study Camp

Last Wednesday and Thursday our Year 12 students participated in a VCE study camp at Federation University. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to intensively review their English study skills but to also spend some time immersing themselves in university life, staying on campus at the student residence and to also have some down time and focus on their wellbeing. I was lucky enough to join them on Wednesday night and it was great to see all students and staff really enjoying this time together. A big thank-you to Lauren Marino, Brenna Loe and Brett Bullock for their organisation.

Year 9 Camp

Last Wednesday to Friday our Year 9 students were lucky to enjoy some fabulous weather and fun in Kinglake for their camp. Students were engaged with several fantastic activities including some mindfulness and meditation. I’d like to thank Louise Van Dugteren for her organisation of this camp through the positive start team with the Department of Education.

Interhouse Cross Country 

Last Monday, we enjoyed the chance to run the interhouse cross country with our students in the beautiful sunshine. Congratulations to all students for their participation and to all students who were successful. Best wishes to all students who now progress to the Geelong Division of SSV finals.

Attitudes to School Survey (AtoSS) 2023

We value student voice to improving student engagement, wellbeing and quality instruction and are conducting a survey to find out what your child thinks of your school. 

The AtoSS is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training to assist your child’s school to gain an understanding of students' perceptions and experience of school. Students will be asked about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer and family relationships, resilience, bullying, mental health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general. 

This year, the AtoSS will be conducted at WHC commencing 16 May – 4 June. We will look forward to sharing the results of this survey with you.

Sport Congratulations

Congratulations to our Year 9/10 Boys and Girls AFL teams and to our Year 11/12 AFL Boys and Girls who recently won through to the Western Metropolitan SSV finals after winning the Local SSV championships. Congratulations to all students and coaches on this success and to large number of parents and carers who supported our students in these competitions.

We also congratulate our Year 9/10 Softball Team for recently qualifying for the State Championships.

Take care,

Fiona Taylor

Principal

Child Safety at WHC

Western Heights College is a child safe organisation committed to protecting students from all forms of abuse.

Our College has stringent protocols in place and endeavours at all times to be fully compliant with the Child Safe Standards set out under Ministerial Order 870.

Our College has the following documents and policies in place to achieve compliance with the Standards. All of these documents are available for downloading on our website or contact the school for a copy. 

1.       Commitment to Child Safety

2.       Child Safety Policy

3.       Child Safety Code of Conduct

4.       Child Protection Policy and Procedures

Annual privacy policy reminder for 2023

Our school collects, uses, discloses and stores student and parent personal information for standard school functions or where permitted by law, as stated in the Schools’ Privacy Policy.(found on the college's webpage)

Please take time to remind yourself of our school’s collection notice, found on our website. For more information about privacy, refer to: Schools’ Privacy Policy — information for parents and carers on the webpage. This information is also available in 10 community languages:

* Amharic

* Arabic

* Dari

* Gujarati

* Mandarin

* Somali

* Sudanese

* Turkish

* Urdu

* Vietnamese.