Principal Report

We are well past the halfway point of Term 1 already. I want to thank parents and carers for their support of our extra efforts to support students with the implementation of Student Diaries and student laptops within our Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) [see my message to parents in our first newsletter - see here also for details on a discount device offer]. Ongoing vigilance by parents and carers in ensuring that students have the required materials each day for learning will continue to make a very significant difference to the learning experience of all. At a minimum, we require students to have pens, textbooks, exercise books, a charged laptop and their student diary. At the moment, we are checking these required materials daily in Homeroom and sending an SMS to parents/carers to alert you if we find missing items, and we hope this helps you be aware of any issues. 

The link

Vaping

I wrote to the school community a couple of weeks ago to express my serious concern for the health and wellbeing of all young people with the crisis associated with vaping and the way that our children are being treated used like animals in an unapproved and dangerous science test.If you missed that communication, you can access the link here or in the preview below. I encourage you to circulate amongst friends and family.

New Campus Fencing

I am pleased to be sharing with the school community a further significant investment by the Department of Education into our wonderful school. A new full-height fence will be installed around the full perimeter of our sprawling site. It is the biggest fencing project the Department has undertaken in Victoria, which reflects just how big our site it is!! The tender process was opened this week. It will be an attractive, consistent and expertly constructed black 2.1m palisade-style fence. 

I have advocated strongly for such an improvement since commencement, and it is pleasing that is now coming to fruition. Protecting the security and integrity of our campus is critical, and we have a significant duty of care to all our students and staff. Like any workplace, we need to have effective measures in place to ensure we are able to control and monitor who enters and leaves our campus, and this investment by the Department will greatly facilitate that.

Once installed, the campus will operate quite differently during the school day and after hours - but all changes will be focused on ensuring the safe and effective operation of our school. We expect to utilise only two pedestrian access points to the campus daily – one pedestrian gate on Phillipson Street (open for school commencement and closure, but locked throughout the day) and on Edwards Street near our sign (that will remain open for the whole school day and be our main entrance). This will significantly improve our campus operations and safety. 

The fencing has been designed to allow the bus interchange to function even if our campus is closed. We do not envisage the Omeara Street gates to open regularly, except for essential services. A full-length fence on Phillipson Street, all the way to the One Mile Creek bridge, will cease any informal and unauthorised thoroughfare during the school day or after hours. It is also pleasing that we can finally stop unauthorised and sometimes unsafe vehicle access to our site, and prevent the consequential damage (either deliberate or accidental) that occurs when vehicles drive on our gardens and ovals. The staff car park will be controlled with motorised gates remaining closed all day.

I expect construction work to commence in late April.

Excess Fencing Available for Community Salvage

Our entire existing fencing will be removed and disposed of by the appointed contractor. However, we are keen to offer all of the materials to the community for use. We welcome enquiries from organisations or individuals who want to take all or some of the fencing. It will be provided free and ‘as-is’, and there will be some conditions attached to the timing of collection to ensure the project is not disrupted. 

If you are interested, please make contact with your details and the sections of fence that you want to Wangaratta.hs@education.vic.gov.au

Talent Quest

Come join us for Wangaratta High School's main event of the year, our annual Talent Quest, which will be held on the 5th of April. This is a night full of entertainment, including our Year 12s final act, our staff showing off their playful side and all of our talented performers. Congratulations to Year 12 students, Ebony and Dakota for designing the advertising - make sure you check out their design and book your tickets in our Talent Quest article. We are looking forward to enjoying the evening with you all.

Wishing you all the best,

Dave Armstrong

Executive Principal