Vale Dawne Brown - Wheelers Hill Secondary College School Council President

We are shocked and saddened by the tragic news of the sudden passing of our School Council President, Dawne Brown. Dawne passed away on the 13th of July after short illness surrounded by her family. Dawne had a number of children enrolled here at the College over an extended period of time with Thomas Brown currently enrolled in Year 11.

Dawne was an important part of our College Community who made an enormous contribution to our school as a parent, as a College Councilor and, more recently as our School Council President. She was a thoughtful, positive and well respected member of our College Community who worked hard to serve the best interests of our school. Dawne was incredibly supportive of our College in so many ways and she will be sorely missed by all who knew her.

Dawne's funeral was last week (19/7/19) whereby a number of students, staff and School Councilors were in attendance. Dawne's funeral service was a fitting tribute to a person that was admired, respected and loved by so many. We extend our deepest sympathies to Dawne's family and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

Vale Dawne Brown

College Production, 2020 - Singing in the Rain

The 2019 College Production of 'Singing in the Rain' is nearly upon us with the opening night next week on Wednesday 31st of July. Tickets went on sale recently and it is no surprise that they have been selling out fast!

The recent Production Camp (19 to 21/7/19) allowed both staff and students to further fine tune acts, costumes and sets as we move into what will be another high quality performance from our Performing Arts Program here at the College. We again thank everyone involved, particularly Genelle Lentini (Performing Arts Leading Teacher) for her outstanding leadership of this year's Production. We wish all of our students all the very best with their involvement in Singing in the Rain - our College Community is proud of your participation and achievements.

Social Media

Social Media provides a wonderful platform allowing people to communicate and connect with one another. Information, thoughts, opinions and ideas can all be shared using Social Media.

Unfortunately, Social Media can be used in such a way that can be harmful to others. On occasions, we do see the fallout at school of posts made on Social Media, and the impact of some of these posts can be damaging to those involved.

We encourage all of our families to continue to work with us in the responsible and appropriate use of Social Media platforms. We encourage our students to be responsible 'digital citizens' and to use Social Media in a positive and respectful manner.

Attendance

We referred to the importance of students having a high level of attendance at school in our last edition of the Newsletter (28/6/19). Research shows that there is a significant correlation between high levels of attendance and positive learning outcomes.

We ask families to continue to work with us to promote and encourage strong levels of school attendance for students. The start of a new term allows us to place a renewed focus on School Attendance and we welcome the ongoing opportunity to work with our families to get the best attendance rates we can for our students.

WHSC Parents and Friends Committee - Trivia Night 13 9 19

Our WHSC Parents and Friends Committee for 2019 are organising a Trivia Night for Friday the 13th of September. Any donations of gifts and services that could be used as prizes on the night would be most appreciated. If families are able to make donations to support our Trivia Night, they are asked to contact our General Office.

Monies raised from the night will go towards supporting our Performing Arts Program here at the College. More details will be shared with our College Community closer to the date, but try and 'keep the date free' (13/9/19) for what promises to be a fun night at the school.

Course Selections, 2020

We are entering an important time of the year where students with their families will shortly embark on the 2020 Course Selection Process.

The 2020 Course Selection Process allows the College to best understand what types of subjects students may be interested in studying for the year ahead. Through the Process, data is collected and analysed helping us to generate a curriculum program for the year ahead.

All of our current Year 8, 9, 10 and 11 students will have the opportunity to work their way through the 2020 Course Selection Process. There will be important Course Selection Information Nights provided at the College for both students and their families throughout Term 3 (please check the College Calendar for details).

Please take up the opportunity of attending the relevant Course Selection Information Night with your child to learn more about the 2020 Course Selection Process.

Parent Opinion Survey, 2019

We are conducting the Department of Education and Training Parent Opinion Survey for 2019. The Survey is randomly offered to families whereby responses assist us to understand more about the College from a parent's point of view.

Information has been sent to randomly selected families allowing for the Survey to completed online. Survey results can assist in the development of our Annual Implementation Plans for the College from one year to the next.

The Survey itself only takes a short time to complete (eg. 10 minutes) and a variety of devices from smart phones to desk top computers can be used to complete the Survey.

We thank those families randomly selected for completing the 2019 Parent Opinion Survey.

Value of the Week - Excellence

We acknowledge Ashleigh Mangan for reaching the State Final of the Cross Country last week (18/7/19). Well done Ashleigh on your wonderful achievement!

And Finally.....

Thank you to all staff and students for their important work in Semester One this year. We welcome everyone back for Term 3 for what promises to be another busy and successful term at Wheelers Hill Secondary College!

We encourage all of our students to be best that they can be with all of their studies and co-curricular activities at the College,

Aaron Smith

Principal

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