Thursday April 2 – Last day of Term 1 (classes finish at 2:30pm)
Friday April 3 – Good Friday Public Holiday (No School), Term 1 School Holidays begin
Monday April 20 – First Day of Term 2
Monday April 20 to Friday April 24 – Year 7-10 PAT-M & PAT-R Testing week
Thursday April 23 – State Swimming (competitors only)
May
Wednesday May 6 to Friday May 8 – Future Leaders Camp 1
Wednesday May 13 to Friday May 15 – Future Leaders Camp 2
Friday May 15 – Senior Sport
Wednesday May 20 to Friday May 22 – Performing Arts Camp
Monday May 25 – Intermediate Sport (Year 9/10)
Monday May 25 to Thursday June 11 – Unit 1 Exams
Wednesday May 27 to Thursday June 11 – Year 10 Exams
June
Monday June 8 – Kings Birthday Public Holiday (No School)
Friday June 12 – Assessment and Reporting Day (no scheduled classes except U3 Legal Studies SAC2 & U3 Business Management SAC3)
Tuesday June 16 – GAT
Reminder
Please ensure you are checking Compass regularly for notifications and updates to events that are specific to your child, to avoid them missing out. It is how you are able to see, consent and pay for all events that affect your student.
If you miss consent and payment deadlines, your child will not be able to participate in the event.
Congratulations to all of our students and staff on a successful start to the school year. I reflect on how much has occurred during the term such as Year 7 Wellington Welcomes You, Student Leadership, 90+ club assembly, NAPLAN, Sport days, Incursions/Excursions, assessments and many more curricula and extra curricula activities. I always enjoy going around the school and into classrooms to see how the students are engaging in their learning. I have been impressed with the calmness and collegiality across the school, with students and staff collaborating in a positive and purposeful way.
Uniform Expectations
We have spoken to students about the importance of representing themselves and others by wearing their uniform correctly and behaving in line with the ‘Wellington Way’. Our aim is for consistency in appearance and students need to make sure that they are not mixing and matching different uniform options or indeed non uniform items. The sub school teams will be focussing on this in the early weeks of Term 2. If you need support in providing a school uniform, please do not hesitate to contact our Acting Business Manager, Mrs Michelle Marsh or Director of Student Wellbeing Services, Ms Jessica Birrell.
College Council
I am delighted to announce the results of our recent Council selection process. As the number of nominations did not exceed the number of positions an election was not necessary. The College Council members are:
Parent Representatives: Charni Pilkington (President), Dianne Rickard (Vice President), Manpreet Kaur, Kieron Collins and new members Steve Draper and Reema Bammi
School Employee Representatives: Bruna Amaral, Jessica Wallis, Michelle Marsh, Marina Stergiou and myself
Student Representatives:Tanishka Srivatsan, Una Crnogorcevic, Shaurya Devani and Vihaan Shah
Observers: Dan Butler, Eric Du (Treasurer) and Brendan Dwyer
I thank new and returning members of Council for supporting our school.
Thank you to Simon Coles and Jennifer Wyatt; who both completed their terms at the end of 2025.
International Women’s Day
We celebrated International Women’s Day a day earlier this year, on Thursday March 5, with staff and Year 12 female students invited to a morning tea to celebrate. College Captains Una Crnogorcevic and Tanishka Srivatsan gave an inspiring speech celebrating the women of our community.
Parent/Carer voluntary financial contributions
Thank you to the families that have made payments towards the Parent/Carer voluntary financial contributions. These contributions allow us to support our students above and beyond the funding allocation set by the Department of Education. As a school we will continue to provide the best available supports to our students and these funds allow us to continue to do that.
If you have not made a payment and would like to, please log into your Compass account, and click on the link under Payment Centre.
Census
Thank you to Mr Dwyer, and his team for completing the Student Enrolment Census at the end of February. The initial count was 1538 students (this is slightly down from the 2025 enrolment). This number includes 104 students who are either International full fee payers or on other special visas. This slight decrease in the number of enrolments is planned and part of the Department of Education enrolment policy and strategy to reduce our overall enrolments over the next five years.
NAPLAN
During March our Year 7 and Year 9 students participated in NAPLAN. Thank you, Ms Andrew, Mr Keat along with all the staffing supporting the administration of NAPLAN. This has been very well planned, and I thank all students for their excellent behaviour and efforts during these tests. I look forward to seeing our students’ results and celebrating their learning growth.
School Tours
We have been conducting tours through the College for prospective Grade 5 and 6 parents, and these tours will continue into the beginning of Term 2.
Please pass this information on to any prospective families, who might be considering enrolling their child to Wellington next year so that they can see our great school in action.
I would like to wish all students and families a wonderful break and look forward to seeing everyone back for the beginning of Term 2 on Monday April 20.
April 25 is ANZAC DAY, a national day to remember Australian and New Zealand soldiers who served and died in all wars and conflicts.
The school are selling pins and badges (ranging from $1 – $20) in the general office. 100% of funds raised through the ANZAC Appeal support veterans and their families.
There is a QR code available for anyone who would prefer to make a donation online.
Mr Tray Driscoll-Plavins & The SRC Executive Team
Pi Day
For Pi Day this year, Wellington’s SRC team hosted an engaging lunchtime event on Friday March 13, featuring a range of mathematical and fun activities.
Students participated in a variety of activities, including Math trivia, pi recitation, and ‘guess the digit’ challenges, along with making paper chains and solving puzzles.
Prizes in the form of snacks were given to those who managed to win the different games. The combination of creativity and rewards created a lively atmosphere that was enjoyed by everyone who attended.
Overall, the day was a huge success and it was a great way for everyone to challenge their brains while enjoying some treats with their friends!
The SRC Executive Team
Harmony Day
Wellington Secondary College celebrated Harmony Day through a series of events held on Friday March 27. The SRC held a free dress day for students to dress up in casual clothes or cultural clothes, as well as a small photobooth and celebrated different cultures with different songs played throughout the week on the speakers and requested songs during lunch on Friday.
The SRC photobooth allowed students to document the 2026 Harmony Day celebration through props, flags and cultural clothes. Students received both the printed and digital copy of their photobooth strips at a later date. We raised over $650! The money received will be donated to the South East Community Links Charity, as well as towards the upcoming Rotary Club Pasta Drive.
Salina Horm – Year 11D (SRC Executive)
Intermediate Schools Volleyball
The EMR Volleyball Finals saw the Intermediate boys volleyball team receive a not-so desirable result on the 25th of March. With the tournament filled with multiple people representing Australia on a national level, winning wasn’t an easy task by any means, however the boys did not manage to make it to the finals after losses to Ringwood Secondary, Yarra Hills Secondary, and Highvale Secondary. Despite this, “I think we started enjoying it a lot more after the first loss, we were already out of finals contention so that gave us room to do whatever we wanted even if we lost a couple points y’know?” – One of the Intermediate boys.
The Intermediate girls played EMR volleyball and were up against Ringwood SC, Monbulk, Glen Waverley SC and Rowville in the finals. “Regionals was a good challenge for our 9/10’s team but we couldn’t quite make the final push. Throughout the day there was ongoing perseverance and energy emitting from both teams. In my opinion I believe Monbulk was the game that changed our mindsets and playing style. Although the outcome at the end of the day wasn’t what we wanted, it was an experience to learn from. ” – Intermediate girls
Term 1 has been an extremely busy term for sport and carnivals at Wellington. We had 32 different teams represent our college from Years 7–12 in interschool sport, with five of our volleyball teams winning the Monash Division and progressing through to the Eastern Metropolitan Region. Well done to the Intermediate Boys, Intermediate Girls, Year 8 Boys, Year 8 Girls, and Year 7 Boys teams on their fantastic efforts.
The first of our major school carnivals was the school swimming trials. We took a squad of 30 students to the Oasis Swim Centre to compete for a position on the college team. Well done to the 23 students who were selected to represent Wellington, and an extra congratulations to Chenuli Munasinghe (7C), who broke three school records on the day. Congratulations also to our age group champions listed below:
Age 12–13 Female – Chenuli Munasinghe
Age 12–13 Male – Hamed Rahimi
Age 14 Female – Ruby Collins
Age 14 Male – Eden Liew
Age 15 Male – Lucas Rickard and Kien-Long Ngo
Age 16 Male – Jack Procter
Age 20 Male – Daniel Atkinson
All students who made the college team represented us at the Monash District Carnival, where we again achieved some fantastic results. Daniel Atkinson (12A) broke the 200m Individual Medley record and was crowned age group champion, while Chenuli Munasinghe tied for the 12–13 Female age group championship with a student from Brentwood. Overall, six students will go on to represent Wellington at the EMR Swimming Carnival, and we wish them the very best of luck.
The largest of our sporting events for the year was our whole-school Athletics Carnival, held on Wednesday 18 March. With record attendance and participation, the day was a huge success. I would like to thank all staff and students for making it such a wonderful event. A special congratulations to the following students who were crowned age group champions:
Age 12–13 Female – Clorinda Chan
Age 12–13 Male – Alex Oeung
Age 14 Female – Lucy Thwaites
Age 14 Male – Adam Heard
Age 15 Female – Charli Gambas
Age 15 Male – Ashton Ham
Age 16 Female – Angelina Kham
Age 16 Male – Jack Procter
Age 17 Female – Mary Matar
Age 17 Male – Ashton Nguyen
Age 20 Female – Tammy Chan
Age 20 Male – Lichestar Khorn
Four records were broken on the day. Alvin Yam broke both the Under 15 discus and shot put records with throws of 34.18 metres (discus) and 12.10 metres (shot put). Angelina Kham broke the Under 16 Girls shot put record with a throw of 6.76 metres, and Themelina Rozakis broke the Under 13 Girls high jump record with a jump of 1.36 metres. Well done to these outstanding athletes.
The Monash Division Carnival will take place on 4 September, giving us plenty of time to train and prepare throughout Term 2.
Great work to all students on a fantastic start to the year. I look forward to seeing even better results next term.
During lunchtime, students have been invited to draw a hopscotch near the bins and collect litter to play. They hopped and threw the appropriate waste in the landfill and recycling bins around the school.
Ms Bruna Amaral Science Teacher
Sustainability Conference
On the February 27, 2026, I was invited to speak on the student panel for the Eastern Alliance for Sustainable Learning with 2 other students from different schools in Victoria. Accompanied by Ms Amaral, I began the day networking with businesses that aimed to promote Sustainability, whether it be through art, stem, or in the materials that they use.
Throughout the day, I attended two workshops. The first workshop was called Designing Circular School Initiatives That Build Agency, and the Success Criteria of this workshop was to teach individuals how they could overcome the issue waste and single use products at their schools. The people who attended this workshop were required to achieve this by looking deep into their selected problem, and then brainstorming solutions by answering questions that prompted them to think harder. This was a group activity which meant I had to work with other people and while there weren’t any other students at this workshop, I communicated with the grown ups and was able to make a lot of connections with teachers, lab technicians and people who work at our local councils. The second workshop that I attended was the How to run an open-ended, SUPER creative hands-on exploration around energy and renewables, and it was one of the highlights of my day. To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about how science could be integrated with sustainability. Through this workshop, I was able to partake in experiments that required me to think about environmentally friendly energy sources. After attending those two workshops, I was very keen to meet more new people, however it was lunch time. The organisers were very kind as to sponsor lunch which was all vegetarian.
Finally, after that delicious lunch, it was time for me to speak on the panel. At first I could feel the butterflies swarming in my stomach, but the MC was very kind to all of us and soon I was confidently answering her questions. She asked the other 2 students and I the following questions: Who are you, what do you contribute to sustainability in your school and what sparked your passion for sustainability? Why is sustainability in schools important? How do you stay positive when you feel overwhelmed?
Overall, it was an unforgettable day filled with happy memories and exciting events that I am truly grateful to have been a part of.
Saanvi Shaker – 10G
Green Ballot System
During Assembly Saanvi Shaker (Sustainability Captain) introduced Terence Pham (Yr 12) and his invention entitled Green Ballot System, which he donated to Junior School. This machine was designed with circularity in mind. Terence envisaged students being able to recycle plastic bottles and aluminium cans that can be later exchanged for cash through Victoria’s Container Deposit Scheme. Terence said that “beyond encouraging environmental responsibility, the initiative encourages students to engage in school decisions by making participation simple and accessible. It gives them a voice in matters like event themes or school improvements.”
Saanvi Shaker – 10G and Terence Pham – Year 12
ResourceSmart School First Star
Our school has achieved its first star in the Resource Smart School program, thanks to the work of some staff members and students – the amazing Sustainability Champions team.
ResourceSmart Schools is an award-winning Victorian Government program that assists schools to embed sustainability in everything they do.
The ResourceSmart Schools program provides practical support to schools to reduce resource use, make cost savings, integrate sustainability into the curriculum and share learnings beyond the school gate.
We have already reduced our carbon emissions by 113 tonnes of CO2- equivalent, electricity by 145,779 kWh and water use by 253 kl. But we know we can do more, especially when it comes to waste.
Other highlights of last year was our Reducing Food Waste conference with 4 other schools participating and an increase in biodiversity (more indigenous plants being added) on school grounds.
On Friday 6th March, our Year 10’s visited the Melbourne Holocaust Museum to enrich their understanding of the Holocaust. Guided solemnly by specialist educators, students learned how the rise of Nazism, along with deception and dehumanisation, led to unimaginable horrors. The excursion provided an emotional journey that developed insight into the history and psychological impact experienced by survivors of genocide. Students engaged with a wide range of historical artefacts (photos, letters, passports, even a children’s storybook) practicing the historical skills we have formed in the classroom.
Year 9 Ancient History Hellenic Museum Excursion
Year 9 Ancient History students travelled into the city on Friday 20th March to visit the Hellenic Museum. Guided by knowledgeable educators, students explored the development of Greek civilisation, including its art, mythology, and lasting influence on contemporary society. There was a diverse collection of artefacts, from ancient sculptures and pottery to interactive exhibits, that allowed students to understand the daily lives, beliefs, and achievements of the period in a deeper way.
Ms Katrina Antoniou Curriculum Area Leader – Humanities
Year 9 Art Excursion to NGV and Buxton Contemporary
On March 17th, students visited the Ian Potter Centre: NGV AUSTRALIA to learn about Australian artists and how their artworks were presented in a gallery setting. They also explored a range of contemporary Aboriginal artworks to understand how they use materials and techniques to express and communicate ideas about culture. Students also visited Buxton Contemporary to view their current Exhibition: Hany Armonious: Stone Soup, and learn about the casting process used by the artist. They also participated in using a 3D modelling software to create a digital sculpture based on their experience of the exhibition. Students were highly engaged on the day, demonsgtrating curiousity and creativity in the workshops they participated.
Congratulations to the following students who have been awarded French and Chinese Students of Term 1. Certificates are for their diligence, positive approach and grit to the study of French and Chinese. We recognise their efforts in their application to work, perseverance, initiative, participation and co-operation. They also earn 10 points each for their respective houses.
ACACIA
DIANELLA
EUCALYPTUS
WARATAH
Avinav Nagpal, Year 7
Vichita Nuth, Year 8
Alexa Arai, Year 7
Kingsley Looi, Year 7
Alisha Suman, Year 8
Axell Thameson, Year 8
Tyler Foo, Year 7
Ally Goh, Year 7
Bahjat Bahjat, Year 7
Riley Foulstone, Year 8
Sean Dahl, Year 7
Ava Schenk, Year 7
Samreet Kaur, Year 7
Zyad Bou Diab, Year 8
Mahta Alifar, Year 8
Teresa Chen, Year 7
Trisha Truong, Year 8
Lyna Nguyen, Year 8
Ben Hoang, Year 8
Sarah Silk, Year 8
Archer Brooks, Year 8
Jessie Nguyen, Year 10
Mr Bushan Sookhareea Languages Curriculum Area Leader
As your child enters early adolescence (around ages 10–14) and prepares for the transition into secondary school, this can be a period of big emotional, social and developmental change. The Victorian Government offers free resources designed to support families during this time.
What’s Included
Supporting adolescents with their emotions • Guides on emotion coaching to help you understand and support your child’s feelings. • Information about emotional development and different parenting styles. • Tips on emotional regulation and managing your own reactions to emotional situations.
Learning Confidence • Insights into confidence building and the key skills confident adolescents develop. • Helps parents understand the dual transitions of emotional growth and moving from primary to secondary school.
Additional Support Options
If you feel your child needs extra help at any point, the resources also point you to further support services, including: • Victorian Mental Health & Wellbeing Toolkit • Headspace – support for young people • Kids Helpline – counselling and support for children and teens • Raising Children’s Network – parenting info • Beyond Blue – mental health support • ReachOut Parents – tips for families • Eating disorder support via Butterfly Foundation and Eating Disorders Victoria
Additionally, ongoing support is available through your school wellbeing team or GP. In urgent situations involving safety, contact 000.
Please see the following website to access this information:
