PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Welcome to our last Newsletter for the term, featuring some great reports of student achievement across the full breadth of the curriculum. There have been so many positive achievements that we celebrated as a community this term and I look forward to continuing to acknowledge these moments during the coming week. 

I encourage all our students, staff, and families in our community to really focus on their own well-being and self-care during the term break. Whatever you feel you need to do, do it, and I will look forward to seeing all our community back energised and ready to launch into term 3.

Assessments and the GAT

With the end to semester one fast approaching, our students are also facing a peak time for assessment. Our Year 11 students are preparing for mid-year exams for each of their studies and all students currently studying a Year 12 subject yesterday sat for their first external assessment the GAT.

This period of time may see some of our students feeling slightly anxious and apprehensive; some may feel overwhelmed. As parents you can assist your children, our students, to build their self-management skills by working with them on strategies to help organise their time effectively, to identify the ways they best organise and revise for tests and exams and by ensuring they have a study space at home which is free from distractions and interruptions. Continuing with sporting and other activities can assist in alleviating anxieties and contribute to maintaining a positive frame of mind during this period of time. Above all, this time should be viewed as a learning experience. The resilience developed during these busy weeks of a school term is a valuable tool to prepare our young people for the challenging rigours of VCE and Tertiary examinations and the multitude of tasks within the workforce in later years. We know that the preparatory years contribute to the confident way in which our Year 12 cohorts approach their final exams.

Please do not hesitate to contact your children's subject teachers if you have any questions about their learning program or for further information on study techniques.

STEM Workshops with Biolab

It has been pleasing this week to see our Year 7 and Year 9 students engage in STEM in the Biolab incursion. The students really enjoyed the opportunity to extract and compare DNA using electrophoresis and to study in-depth aquaculture environments. A big thank-you to our Science team and Mrs Jenny Jerbic, our science domain leader for organising this opportunity.

Recognition of Outstanding Service

Each year the Department recognised long-service milestones this year. Of the 304 recipients, 172 were recognised for 40 years of service; 78 for 45 years; 45 for 50 years, and 9 for 55 years. DET hold a Recognition of Service ceremony each year to recognise and celebrate dedication, loyalty and longevity of service to our department. This year’s ceremony was on Sunday 21 May at the Pullman, East Melbourne. Recipients received a personalised Certificate of Recognition and commemorative booklet.

We would like to highlight the 55 years of service Farid Anawati has given to the Department in his teaching career. His contribution to the education system is outstanding and with 55 years of this service being at Bell Park HS and Western Heights College we would like to commend him once more and thank him for his amazing years of service to our college.

Semester Reports

Semester 1 reports will be released to parents and carers on Friday 23rd June. I encourage you to download this report from compass and discuss the reports with your child.

End of Term 2

The last day of term 2 will be Friday 23 June and students will be dismissed at 2.30pm.

Term 3 Start Dates

Term 3 will commence with a Staff Professional Practice Day on Monday 10 July with students not required to attend with students returning to semester 2 timetabled classes on Tuesday 11 July.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Jack McGough who has been recently selected in the U16 School Sport Victoria Boys Basketball Team to participate in the national championships. Brodie Salter and Zahlia Foley were also named in the boys and girl's squads as emergencies. This is a wonderful result for all 3 students who have worked considerably hard on their games for a number of years. We are very proud of each of them and look forward to watching their progress in the nationals representing Victoria.

A big congratulations to Ziva Shawcross, Taya Delaney, Jack Thompson, Meyah Fursland and Bonnie Brown for their recent selection in the SSV Victorian U15 AFL Boys and Girls Squads for the National Championships to be conducted in Ballarat from 22 –29 July. This is a wonderful effort from all students, and we are very proud of each of them.

We are also thrilled to learn that a number of our Soccer program participants have recently been offered an opportunity to join the Melbourne Victory Pathways program. We congratulate all of these students from WHC. 

Pathways Evening and Career Counselling

We are heading into the busy and important time of year when students begin to plan their subject selections and pathways into their Senior Secondary studies. To support students and families with these selections, the school will run a Pathways Evening and individual Course Counselling sessions. We encourage all students and families to engage with both these opportunies.

Pathways Evening: THURSDAY 20th JULY 6pm - 8pm in the PAF Building and RED Building

6.30pm: PAF- Year 10 Information Sessions

7:00pm: VCE Information Session

7:40pm: Vocational Major and Vocational Pathways Certificate Information Session 

6pm - 8pm: Expo will be open in the RED Building where students/families can engage with Currciulum Leaders around subject choice as well as external providers including VET Providers, Victorian Group Training, Universities, Head Start, School Based Appretice Providers and other providers

Careers Counselling Sessions

15 minutes Careers Counselling Sessions are NOW open to book with our Career and Pathways Team to support subject selection and pathway selection. These will occur on the following days and are bookable from now on COMPASS:

Year 11 into 12: THURSDAY 27th JULY in the BLUE BUILDING: Please note Year 11s will not have classes on this day

Year 10 into 11: TUESDAY 25th JULY in the PURPLE BUILDING: Please note Year 10s will not have classes on this day

Year 9 into 10: WEDNESDAY 26th JULY in the YELLOW BUILDING: Please note Year 9s will not have classes on this day 

Further information, including the updated 2024 Curriculum Handbook will be provided in the following weeks, as well as reminders, but please flag these important dates.

NAIDOC Week 2023

This year NAIDOC week will be acknowledged across our country between the 2-9 July. National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth. A team of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students have been working closely with Ms Pike and Ms. Fowler to acknowledge this week in our school community across the last week of term and the first week back in term 3. Our school will reflect on this week in several ways within our curriculum but also as a whole school. 

Cybersafety Workshops

A big thank-you to Robbie Noggler from Victoria Police who has recently completed cybersafety presentations to our Year 7/8 and 9 students. Staying safe online and using devices appropriately is a focus for our Year 7-9 subschool and we will look forward to following up presentations from Robbie and the Victoria Police Youth Task team next semester.

Have a wonderful break and 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.