College Captains

A TERM IN REVIEW

Term 1 has been a wonderful start to the year for our Wantirna College community.  School life has been buzzing with activity, with events such as the swimming carnival and the World’s Greatest Shave to unite students and teachers in good spirits.

Our new Year 7s were welcomed warmly to the College with a special group tour activity guided by the Year 12s. This activity was really well received, as it gave Year 7s an opportunity to be shown “the ropes” of the school by the older students. The Year 7s had their camp soon after. The camp is a fantastic occasion for the them to form stronger friendships and grow in confidence. They participated in hikes, crate climbing, archery, a talent contest, and many other activities. The College Captains visited the them for breakfast on camp, which was very enjoyable and created stronger relationships between the oldest and youngest year levels.

For the prospective students and parents of the Wantirna College community, the Knox Expo was a great way for them to be informed about all that the College has to offer. Jayden Mitchell (one of our Vice Captains) and I went along to the Expo with Mrs Mingos and Assistant Principal, Mr Churchward. For us it was a fun way to engage with the broader community and show off all that our school has to offer.

School tours are available and can be booked on the College website. Open Day and Discovery Night are being held on April 27th. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about our wonderful school.

The year has also begun exceptionally well for the performing arts students of the College. Music camp was held at Marysville from the 20th-22nd of March. Students participated in many activities, forming closer bonds with their bands and ensembles. Students reported that they had a fantastic camp and developed their musical ability over the short time.

Similarly, Production Camp was held from the 25th-27th of March in Gembrook. The named cast, dancers and ensemble were brought together for the first time, and enjoyed the company of the “Production Family”. A fundraiser was held at the cinemas on Wednesday the 29th March to raise funds for this year’s show, of Beauty and the Beast, which incidentally is now a new film, too!  Each year the staff and students put together a fantastic show, as it most certainly will be this August.

Term 2 is fast approaching, and promises to be brilliant for our College. I look forward to what the rest of 2017 holds!

Gabi Cameron, College Captain

The school year has begun full of excitement, and everyone has settled in comfortably, ready to learn and grow, both as individuals and as a community. Returning students, new students, and international students have all been welcomed warmly and strong bonds have formed everywhere, assisted by a great number of occasions designed to bring everyone together.

The annual college Swimming Carnival was a hit, as fierce competition was combined with cooperative fun. Our talented swimmers went head to head in a series of races, whilst many others competed in a range of novelty events, resulting in a sunny day full of enjoyment for all. And let’s not forget we Year 12s, who attended the carnival in the craziest and most random costumes we could think of, spanning from Toy Story characters to Super Mario. Our parade around the pools was a sentimental moment for all, one that we have seen every year since we arrived at the College, and were honoured to take part in.

Speaking of whole school events, the World’s Greatest Shave was a largely successful day, as we had volunteers from a variety of year levels ready to do their part for the Leukaemia Foundation, and many donated whatever they could, either for a chance to shave or wax one of their friends, or simply just to help those with blood cancer. It was a great day for everyone to get involved in, and despite poor weather, we made it work and everyone had a fantastic time raising over $1000 for a worthy cause.

We Year 12’s love to dress up, and after the Swimming Carnival, we decided we needed more, so on the 28th March we had another dress up day, with the new theme being ‘What I Want To Be When I Grow Up’, and the results were stranger than one might expect. Some kept it tame, attending the day in a McDonalds uniform or something similar, whilst others stretched their imaginations, spending their classes dressed as astronauts, AFL players and even superheroes.

As a nice sendoff to everyone, the College Captains decided that in the spirit of Easter, we might head around to classrooms on the final day and hand out chocolate eggs to everyone we could, just to show them that even though we are at school to learn, it is a positive and friendly environment where every student should feel at home. Oh, and did I forget to mention that it involved me personally being inside a large Bunny costume? Let us just say that it didn’t exactly smell like daisies on the inside!

With a successful, action-packed term behind us, we can look to the future and expect a fantastic year to follow.

Sam Brasher, College Captain