Principal's Report 

Hello everyone,

It has been a wonderful start to Term 4 at WHSC! I am very happy to welcome back all students and staff and hope that the rest of the year is positive and rewarding. I would like to acknowledge the work of Jeremy Woods as Acting Assistant Principal in Term 3 and the return of Andrew Dixon to the role. 

It has been a poignant week for us as we remembered Educational Support person, Robyn Crook, who passed away from breast cancer last term. She now has a beautiful tree in her honour.

It was a special moment for me as a had the opportunity to speak to our students at the whole school assembly as the substantive principal for the first time. My message to them was clear, they are the change makers of the future. They should embrace every opportunity that comes their way to build knowledge and skills which not only serve their future career pathways but will create the citizen they will become. We live in a complex world and education is power. All learning is valuable whether it is on the sports field, in French or the Mandarin classroom. Subjects are not simply defined by the curriculum content but by the rich cultural and ethical understandings that students gain when they immerse themselves in the Victorian Curriculum. I encourage all parents and caregivers to support their children in language learning. We are establishing a Language Lab for 2023 which will offer specialist facilities for our language teaching.

I also encourage families to support our dress code. As a uniform school it is important that we respect this. As the warmer months approach, there is no necessity to wear items like hoodies. Track pants and trainers are fine in sport and PE, but they are not the school dress code for the rest of the time. If a student cannot be in the proper attire, please ensure they provide a note and follow the school process. It may seem a small thing to some but it is the respect it demonstrates for our school, our colleagues and our traditions that is so important. Our dress code is on the school website.

As the Year 12s approach their final day, I would like to thank the School Captains for their personal support and encouragement. Our weekly conversations have been an important part of my transition to WHSC. I wish Jasmine, Lachlan, Maryam and Renae and the rest of the VCE and VCAL Cohort all the very best for the future. I strongly encourage those sitting VCAA exams to study at school and ensure that they continue to work with their teachers. We are here for you.

Navigating the future is challenge for us all. Wheelers Hill belongs to one of the highest performing networks in the state and I am very proud of the work we do as a community to build educational outcomes for students that will equip them to embrace their potential. As you know, we have recently completed our whole school review process and I am enormously thankful to the Review Team who have done a huge amount of work to create the foundations for the next Strategic Plan. Our key goals for 2023-26 Strategic Plan are:

• Maximise learning growth and achievement for all students
• Build a stimulating environment where students are agents of their own learning

As part of our work to meet these goals, we will:

• Establish an Assessment and Reporting Team to review all College assessment and reporting practices and processes to make recommendations to ensure students have greater ownership over their learning and that our assessment culture reflects 21st century learning
• Upskill and build teacher capacity to provide consistent pedagogical practices for stimulating, engaging, differentiated and inclusive learning experiences. This will also include the development of a WHSC Learning Spaces policy
• Transform a current Leading Teaching role into Community Connectedness, Student Voice Agency and Leadership to consolidate our commitment to empowering our young people to become self-directed learners and empathic citizens

Our teaching and learning culture is much more than just the delivery of the Victorian Curriculum or VCAA Study Designs, it is how we collaborate as the key stakeholders in the lives of the young people in our care to ensure that they have every opportunity to succeed whatever their pathway and needs as a learner. Your support is so important and we, the educators of WHSC, look forward to working with you to make this happen.

Fern Brisbane

WHSC Principal