Welcome to our first winter newsletter for 2023. As the weather continues to grow colder, we must remain vigilant in looking after ourselves as the winter flu and Covid increase in prevalence. Please refer to the following information provided by the Department of Education to help us all reduce the potential of contracting these pesky viruses.

Stay well this winter

Symptoms of influenza (flu) can hit very quickly and may last several weeks. Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself and others from getting the flu.

Annual influenza vaccination is recommended from mid-April each year and is free under the National Immunisation Program for those at higher risk of complications from the flu.

Keeping our school community well

Parents, carers and students are encouraged to practice prevention measures, including:

washing and sanitising hands regularly

avoiding touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands

covering nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing

staying home if unwell and consulting a general practitioner (GP) or Nurse-on-call as required

staying up to date with flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.

Flu vaccinations

Flu vaccinations can be booked through GPs and pharmacies, many of which can also provide COVID-19 vaccinations. Flu vaccination is recommended for everyone aged 6 months and over.

Some people are more at risk of complications from flu and are eligible for free vaccination as part of the National Immunisation Program.

COVID-19 booster

The 2023 COVID-19 booster dose is available for everyone aged 18 and above.

Getting your booster dose remains the best way to prevent severe illness or hospitalisation, especially in people aged over 65 and those at higher risk of severe illness.

You can have your booster dose 6 months after your last dose or COVID infection.

Children aged between 5 and 17 years who are at risk of severe illness can also receive a 2023 booster dose.

You can get your next dose at your local pharmacy or GP. To find one near you, refer to the vaccine clinic finder.

Find out more

For more information about preventing flu, and immunisation, refer to:

Better Health Channel influenza flu immunisation fact sheet

Getting vaccinated against influenza.

Voluntary Contributions

A sincere thank you to those families who have provided voluntary contributions to the College in 2023. Whilst the government provides funding to schools, it is never enough to cover everything we wish to provide. Voluntary contributions from families make an enormous difference to the programs across all Learning Areas and opportunities we can offer to our students. These funds are invaluable in providing the best learning and wellbeing outcomes we can deliver. Please be aware that payment plans are available for families who wish to make voluntary contributions. If you have an enquiry regarding this, please contact the General Office.

Staffing

Staffing continues to be a challenge across the system, however, at WHSC, we are far better off than many schools across the state. We continue to advertise for an ongoing Maths and English teacher-we have been running this ad since the January holidays and are hopeful that we may have some interest from quality applicants given we are approaching the middle of the year. We also have an advertisement for a new Business Manager as we look to farewell Bridene Forrest who is moving for a sea change. We thank Bridene for her commitment and professionalism during her time at our College.

Attitudes to School Survey

Over the past fortnight, students across all year levels have been participating in the annual Attitudes to School Survey. This survey is an opportunity for students to provide feedback about their thoughts and feelings in relation to their school, their learning, peer relationships, resilience, bullying, health and wellbeing, physical activity, and life in general. Once the de-identified results are provided, we use this data to further improve student learning and wellbeing at WHSC. A significant aspect of this is utilising student agency to drive desired changes. A sincere thank you to all students for the mature manner in which they have demonstrated whilst completing the survey.

Music Soiree Program

Over the past few weeks, members of the College community have been privileged to attend the range of events offered from our Music Learning Area. These events provide the opportunity for our students to showcase their musical prowess.

A big thank you to all the students who have performed and to Ms Mechielsen and her team for organising these evenings. It was especially pleasing to have a “full house” on Monday night! Thank you to everyone who attended!

College Dress code

Please be reminded that WHSC is a uniform college for all year levels. We have a dress code as approved by the School Council. Students and parents are made aware of this upon their enrolment. As such, it is our non-negotiable expectation that all students wear the uniform each day. Recently we are seeing a number of students who continue to wear non-uniform items such as track pants and hoodies. We are appealing to all members of our community to ensure that the correct college uniform is worn each day. If students are continually out of uniform (without an explanatory note), we will be contacting home and seeking support from parents/carers to ensure that their children can wear their uniform each day upon leaving for school. Whilst learning is our core business, we do expect all students to wear the college uniform as this represents our brand and identity. Further to this, it has been suggested that uniform can contribute to students' wellbeing by removing the additional pressures of deciding what to wear and the added stress of meeting the expectations of their peers. The dress code can be found on the college website and can be purchased at Lowes Knox.

To further support the range of uniform items available, we are introducing a winter WHSC Beanie which we understand will be available in around 6-7 weeks’ time. It will retail for $17.95. This will replace the current array of non-school Beanies. A reminder too that no hats or beanies are to be worn in class except for Religious purposes.

Information Evenings and Course Selection

We are at that time of the year, when we are starting to plan for 2024.

In the next few weeks we will be running information evenings and a course counselling day for the year 10’s going into year 11 in 2024. All information evenings will be run via the Teams platform. Please see the relevant dates below and keep an eye out for further information from the leaders of the sub schools:

Monday June 5- years 8 to 9 and years 9 to 10 subject information evening

Tuesday June 6 – VCE information evening

Thursday June 8 – Year 10 to 11 course counselling day- student appointments will be made.

Just a Friendly Reminder

Year 10 Work experience will be taking place this term Mon 19th June - Fri 23rd June. Students who are not participating in Work Experience Program are required at school and will be attending an alternative program on site.

Judy Anderson

Assistant Principal

Homestay Families WANTED!

'Creating Futures Together'