PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

A very warm welcome back to Western Heights College for another year of learning and a special welcome to our new students and their families, especially our new Year 7 students. We have 175 new Year 7 students who have joined us this year and around 30-40 new students in each year level.  It has been wonderful to engage with you all and get to understand your goals and aspirations for learning and pathways. I hope you have all managed to enjoy a timely break with your family and loved ones during the new year period. Whatever you managed to do, I hope you are all feeling relaxed, hopeful, and excited for learning this year. I have certainly enjoyed time with family for the Christmas period in Port Fairy and was lucky to also get up to the Sunshine Coast for some surf, sun and time out to refresh for the new year.

This year we have also welcomed to our college several new staff and we look forward to learning more about them over the next few newsletters when we will profile each one of them. All new staff members were introduced to our college community at our assemblies last Wednesday morning. It’s great to see them all settling in really well and working with our school community. We wish all new members of our school community well. New staff include:

• Ricki O’Shannessy (Assistant Principal)
• Madalyn Anderson (Arts)
• Georgina Barker (English/Disability Inclusion)
• Rena Bennett (English)
• Jack Clarke (English)
• Vicki Doak (Performing Arts)
• Annie Flood (Science/HAPE)
• Jenny Gibson (English Learning Specialist)
• Daniel Gray (Maths/Exercise Science)
• Sean Mahon (Soccer Program/Science)
• Ahmed Mansour (Humanities)
• Saeed Maymand (Science)
• Joey McArlein (Psychology/HAPE/Sport)
• Jane McMeel (Science)
• Harry O’Sullivan (Mathematics/HAPE)
• Mayan Rowling (Mathematics/Food Technology)
• Simon Scouller Greig (Design Tech and VCAL)
• Martin West (English/Arts)
• Kate Whitten (Food Technology)

We also have a number of new education support staff joining us this year to support our programs:

• Jen Chiu (Alumni and events administration)
• Joey Didulica (Soccer Program Head Coach)
• Sonia Raschilla (Attendance and First Aid)
• Charlie Perks (AFL/Athletic Development)
• Ainsley Corrigan and Stacey Hoiles (1 day each per week for netball program)
• Niro Bogahawatta (IT)
• Jannette Wingrave (Education Assistant)
• Lucia Maiuolo (Education Assistant)
• Jas Phillips (Education Assistant)
• Geoff Drysdale (Education Assistant)
• Chloe Durkin (Office/Administration)
• Brianna McGill (Office/Reception)

Tami O’Hare is currently enjoying some well-earned long service leave for Term 1.

School Council and Sub-Committees – call for interested parents

During February, we will once again be seeking nominations for School Council and its various Sub-Committees. They are all enjoyable and positive experiences. 

There are 3 mandatory membership categories for a school council:

1. parent members (6 members)
2. school employee members (5 school employees)
3. student members — 2 College Captains and 2 other students (4 students in total)

Many school councils also have community members (up to 4 members)

All parents or carers of students enrolled at the school are eligible to vote for parent members, staff vote for school employee members, and students vote for student members. Community members are co-opted by the school council.

School Council meets 8 times per year (twice per term) during the evenings on Mondays from 6pm-7.30pm.  The final meeting in term 4 is a dinner meeting.

Our current council parent members Tania Briese, Kristie Mostert, Allana Zydbell, and Justine Rutherford have 1 more year of a 2-year term remaining and we look forward to continuing to work with them in 2023. We thank retiring members Christine Baldock and Craig McGough for their work over the past few years as a Parent Member of College Council.

We currently have 2 vacancies for parent representatives on School Council.

Please find a parent self-nomination form for school council with this newsletter or please collect it from the General Office of the college or download the form from Compass.

Nominations for College Council will open on Monday 13 February and close on Friday 24 February. If more nominations for parent/carer council places are received, a ballot will take place during the week of 27 Feb - 3 March. Each parent/carer will be permitted to vote.

If you have any questions – please do not hesitate to contact me.

Meet the Mentor Meetings

Next Wednesday 15 February we will be conducting a “Meet the Mentor" Opportunity for parents and carers who would like to meet the first point of contact for their child in 2023. The opportunity will take place between 5-6pm in the students' Year Level Learning Community and mentor meeting room. Parents and carers do not need to make an appointment and are welcome to visit their child’s mentor teacher between 5-6pm in their mentor meeting room. Light refreshments will be available for parents and carers. It will be a great opportunity to meet the key staff involved with your child, and ask any questions that will support your child to make a successful start to the 2023 school year.

Annual House Swimming Sports

Our annual House Sports will be conducted next Friday 17 February at the Lara Memorial Pool. All Year 7-9 students will attend the swimming sports along with students in Year 10-12 who have signed into swimming events at our House meeting on Tuesday. Classes will run as normal for all students in Year 10-12. It is always a great day for students.

Making noise to build our new school gym

A major part of Council and parent community involvement this year will be to advocate for the promised funding to advance the completion ASAP of the Western Heights College regeneration project which commenced in 2006. We know that a great school does not rely on its facilities, but great facilities certainly enhance the learning opportunities and collaboration between students and between staff, and they also inspire us. Our school grounds are beautiful and our learning environments bright and engaging but our school is still making use of the old single-court gym on our previous site of the Quamby campus.

We thank our community for their support in securing a pre-election promise from the state Labor Government to finish our school and build our school gym on-site.

We have strong support from our local member, Ms Ella George (Member for Lara), in receiving this election promise in 2022. With our school growth to over 800 stundets this year – we need this promised funding and the building to commence in 2023. We need this facility sooner rather than later.

Ms George is keen to hear from our college community and it would be wonderful if parents/carers would like to send her an email and discuss this important final stage 3 in our school masterplan development which needs to be funded in 2023. Her email address is george.ella@parliament.vic.gov.au

Uniforms in 2023

A reminder to all students and parents/carers that students should be in full school uniform. Our uniform is gender-neutral and all items can be worn year-round. Please do not hesitate, if you require support in obtaining pieces of uniform, to contact the college's wellbeing team by emailing Jenny Eastwood at the college at jennifer.eastwood@education.vic.gov.au

Families may also request assistance with purchasing school uniform from the following organisations: 

• Smith Family Learning for Life provides support and financial assistance to help disadvantaged children stay at school. The program runs in select disadvantaged areas.
• A Start in Life provides financial assistance to disadvantaged students and families to ensure they can access the same learning opportunities as their peers. For information phone (02) 9264 3017.
• Opening the Doors Foundation provides education assistance for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students enrolled in an independent educational institution in Victoria.
• The Queen’s Fund Financial assistance with the cost of educational expenses for children. Applications must be completed by a social worker or a community agency that works with you.
• Good Shepherd Micro-finance is a great initiative that has financial programs to assist families on low or limited incomes with educational costs and other expenses. One of their programs is the No Interest Loan Scheme (NILS) which gives access to fair and safe credit up to $1,200 for essential educational items.
• Saver Plus This is financial education and up to $500 in matched savings for education costs for individuals and families who have at least some regular income from work. For information phone 1300 610 355.

Second-hand uniforms are also bought and sold by local families on our Facebook group: Western Heights College buy swap and sell page.

Breakfast Club “Grab and Go”

Breakfast Club will run at the school canteen every Monday - Friday from 8.15am-8.45am. There will be fresh apples and non-perishable foods available such as cereal, muesli, baked beans, toast, fruit cups and milk. All students are welcome!

College Yearbook

One of the highlights of each year is the publication of our college yearbook. Once again, it did not disappoint. Congratulations to Jen Chiu and Natasha Petrovics on producing a creative and entertaining snapshot of our 2022 year. The yearbook captured well the interesting year we had. Students can receive a copy of the yearbook by collecting it from the general office in the administration building.

Open Night for 2024 Prospective Students

Our Open Night will be held on Wednesday 1 March between 6-8pm. This is a great opportunity for prospective parents and students to see our learning spaces and to hear about the rich program of learning and extra-curricular activities that we offer including our Specialist Sports Program and our Accelerate Program for High Ability Learners. Our leadership team will be visiting local primary schools with information for Grade 4, 5 and 6 students over the next few weeks. 

There will be morning tours offered on subsequent Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 9.30am until May during Term 2. 

Insurance and Ambulance Cover for Students

Parents/carers are reminded that the Department (and the College) does not provide personal accident insurance, personal property insurance or ambulance cover for students. Parents/carers are responsible for paying the cost of medical treatment for their child/ren, including the cost of ambulance attendance/transport and any other transport costs.

Private property brought to school by students, staff or visitors is not insured and the Department does not accept any responsibility for any loss or damage. Parents/carers can purchase insurance policies and ambulance cover from commercial insurers if they wish for their children.

Finally...

Thank you also for your excellent support in ensuring that your children have been well prepared for the start of the year. We have had enjoyed a busy, yet positive start, and this is in part due to your efforts, especially with books, equipment, devices and uniform.

If you have any concerns or questions about how your child has settled in, please do not hesitate to contact their Learning Community Leader.

I wish you all well for the year ahead and look forward to working with you.

Fiona Taylor

College 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.