Major age groups winners for our School Athletics.
Well done to Clorinda Chann, Alex Oeung, Lucy Thwaites, Adam Heard, Ashton Ham, Charlie Gambas,
Angelina Kham, Jack Procter, Ashton Nguyen, Mary Matar, Tammy Chan and Lichestar Khorn.
Also pictured Chenuli Munasinghe and Daniel Atkinson who received age group champion
medals for the Monash District Swimming Carnival.
Contact Information
Phone: 9547 6822 Email: wellington.sc@education.vic.gov.au Attendance: 9562 4762 or 0484 009 562 IT Helpdesk: helpdesk@wellingtonsc.vic.gov.au
ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day is an important day on the Australian calendar. As it is a Public Holiday we commemorated the day on the 24 April. Our College Captains Una Crnogorcevic and Tanishka Srivatsan along with Christine Pham and Steven Hy led the assembly with warmth and honour. This year we also had Christoher Chen playing the Last Post and Reveille bugle call on the trumpet.
ANZAC Day is a commemoration of the anniversary of the landing of Australian and New Zealand troops at Gallipoli, Turkey on 25 April in 1915. Each year we pay our respect and acknowledge the significance of the ANZACs on our Country. The ceremony was conducted in ‘The Wellington Way’ with all students involved and culminated in the laying of a wreath in our Eastern Courtyard beneath the Aleppo pine, that is a direct descendant from the original Lone Pine in Gallipoli.
Lest We Forget
Attitudes to School Survey (AtoSS)
The AtoSS is an annual student survey offered by the Department of Education and Training to assist our school to gain an understanding of students’ perceptions and experience of school. Students have the opportunity to provide feedback based on their thoughts and feelings regarding the school via the Attitudes to School Survey. This is a survey undertaken by students in years 4-12 across public schools. This data is used to measure schools’ performances in a variety of indicators as well as provide schools with a sense of the aspects within the school that are going well as well as identify areas for improvement.
Parents will have the opportunity to complete a survey via the Parent Opinion Survey carried out in Term 3.
Annual Report to the Community
The final report was presented to the community on 28 April. The report provides information on the 2025 school year. The information within the report highlighted that Wellington continues to be a high performing school, compared to ‘similar’ schools and state benchmarks. The final report has been uploaded to the school website.
Attendance – Everyday Counts
It is great to see the number of students who are making the most of their learning opportunities by attending school every day in Term 1.
Congratulations to the Year 12 students as they had the highest percentage of students that attended every day with 50% of the cohort attending daily. The Year 11 students also had a great start to the year with 44% of students attending everyday for Term 1. Congratulations to the students that have attended everyday so far; let’s keep it going. For students that missed days in Term 1 I encourage them to challenge themselves with a goal to attend everyday in Term 2 or Term 3 (if they have already missed a day in Term 2).
School Tours It’s been a pleasure conducting school tours for potential future students and their family. I really enjoying walking around our school watching the students highly engaged in their learning and making the most of the opportunities available to them. I’m pleased to say that there has been high interest from families in considering Wellington Secondary College.
Semester 1 Reports
Please be informed that Friday 12 June will be a student free day with staff working on finalising the student assessments for Semester 1. These Semester 1 Reports will be available on Compass at the end of Term 2. More details to follow. Students will begin Semester 2 from Monday 15 June.
Wednesday May 27 to Thursday June 11 – Year 10 Exams
June
Wednesday June 10 to Thursday June 11 – Year 9 Exams
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)
Monday June 15 – Semester 2 Begins
Tuesday June 16 – GAT
Wednesday June 17 – Winter Concert
Thursday June 18 – Careers Expo 6.30-8pm
Friday June 26 – Last Day of Term 2 (classes finish at 2:30pm)
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.
Quantum Victoria – Cyber Security Escape Room Excursion
On Wednesday May 13, the high flyer students visited Quantum Victoria for a day of cybersecurity escape room style challenges. This program has been developed as part of the Victorian Challenge and Enrichment Series to build real-world knowledge and problem solving skills. Students worked collaboratively to solve Cyber Security scenario-based challenges, rotating through three workshops throughout the day.
Student feedback:
“The excursion was really fun and I got to learn heaps of things about cybersecurity. The puzzles were really entertaining and intricate. Overall, I had a really great time learning about cybersecurity!”
“The excursion was really fun and entertaining! We got to work in groups with our friends to solve puzzles related to cyber security. (In my opinion, much more fun than a school day). I enjoyed the challenge of the puzzles, and I got to learn some new skills including tracking social media digital footprints and learning how keys worked. Although the timer made it a little stressful, I still found it super enjoyable and a really great way to learn about cyber security. The staff were also super friendly and helped whenever we were stuck. Overall, the program was awesome!”
Mrs Katherine Popov High Ability Practice Leader
Rockpool Incursion
The Year 7 students attended the Rockpool Incursion here at school last week as a part of their unit of work on ‘Classifications and Ecosystems’. The program showcased a range of preserved marine specimens, including whale bones, shark jaws, a green sea turtle, porcupine fish, seahorses, octopuses, shells, coral, crab exoskeletons, and more. Students were able see and touch the fascinating specimens, gaining a deeper understanding of marine life. A highlight of the program was the live animal “touch tank,” which featured local rockpool creatures like sea stars, sea urchins, elephant snails, hermit crabs, sea cucumbers, sea squirts, and more. Students were encouraged to handle and explore these live animals, learning about their survival strategies and the complex rockpool ecosystem.
Student Feedback:
“Today I got to learn about many unique marine animals like elephant slug, 11 arm sea star and sea squirt. All of them felt and looked funny. My favourite one was probably the slug even though it was slimy but it was fun to feel, the slug will reveal its shell when you rub its back which was very cool. There were many preserved marine animals too and I saw my favourite fish preserved (the puffer fish)😢 I had fun today and hope there will be another time where another incursion like this will happen”
Jayden 7J
“In today’s rockpool incursion in the makerspace, I personally enjoyed looking and holding the sea animals. Seaweed Sally was the coordinator for the lesson and she was very friendly. While also observing and holding the animals, she also tested us about our knowledge on classification. There was an elephant snail that was extremely slimy, a sea urchin, a sea star, sponge, and a sea squirt that squirted out water. To add on, there also was a blue ringed octopus, a sea pickle, shells, numerous species of sharks, a massive baby whale rib bone, sea turtles, and other cool aquatic creatures.”
Alex 7J
“Today my class, 7J went to the maker space for an incursion for science. When we entered, we were greeted by Jacinta, better known as Seaweed Sally to the little kids. After the introduction we were split up into 2 groups, one group was to walk around the room and have a look at the deceased sea creatures, the other group got to look and touch the creatures. I was put in the group with the animals, I got to touch sea stars, elephant snails and urchins, then we swapped groups. The second half, I was looking around at the deceased animals, the saw shark teeth looked cool, and we used the seashells like voice recorders.”
Harley 7J
“Today we had a rockpool incursion in the makerspace at school. I personally enjoyed this hands-on incursion very much as I am an animal enthusiast and the session was about learning about aquatic organisms. The highlight of this rockpool incursion for me was holding the live ocean animals in our hands. I think I liked holding the elephant snail the most as it was slimy and soft which gave a very tingly feeling. I would recommend this incursion to anyone who is an animal lover and is tolerable to some foul odours.”
Ashish 7J
“Today I had the chance to look at various types of sea animals, such as sharks, turtles, stingrays, and whale teeth. We got to feel animals that we could usually find at the beach, such as sea urchins, sea stars, sea squirts, and elephant snails. I would really recommend this for the kids in kindergarten because I believe they will enjoy touching the sea animals more than us.”
Nathan 7J
“My Rockpool Program Experience was awesome. I learnt countless new things from “Seaweed Sally” , like how huge a baby blue whale’s rib is, how the elephant snail has a hidden shell, and how sharp mako sharks’ teeth are, or how big a megalodon’s single tooth is. The live rockpool animals were so cool, how the sea urchins slowly moved their spikes and when the eleven-armed sea star stuck to my skin. I recommend this for primary school kids too, just the senior ones because they’re more careful. Thanks for the fun period!”
Diyenka 7J
“My experience was amazing as there were so many bones and preserved animals. I got to touch some of the animals. I was astonished by how big the baby blue whale’s rib cage was and how big the megalodon tooth was. I give this excursion a 5 star and I recommended it to anyone. Also Seaweed Sally was very friendly. Awesome incursion 👌😊👍”
Aaron 7J
“The Rockpool Experience was extremely enjoyable because we were able to see many animals and we could learn about phyla of the sea animals there because we have been learning about the different phylum/phyla of animals. There were cnidarians, reptiles, mammals and others. The favourite part of it was the Touch Tank because we could see and feel a few of the sea creatures. My least favourite part was the smell of the room when we entered because all of the dead, preserved animals smelt weird. We saw sharks, pufferfish, shells, crabs, turtles, sea urchins, starfish, snails, whale ribs, whale vertebrate, seal vertebrate, dolphin vertebrate, shark teeth, coral skeletons, cuttlefish and many more. There was a large variety of animals, majority of them being baby sharks. My favourite animal there was the brittle starfish because it was the most active and its five arms looked like little snakes that were very rough.”
Teresa 7J
“Today’s Rockpool program experience was pretty exhilarating. We got the chance to hold and feel different sea animals such as the Elephant snail, different types of sea stars, sea urchins and other amazing snails. The preserved animals and bones were really interesting I would do this experience again.”
Mohammad 7J
“It was really exciting to see the live sea animals. When I saw them, they were so adorable and interesting to look at. What I learnt was that sea stars when they eat their stomach comes out and feeds. Then we looked at some fertilized sea animals that were dry and stuffed which made it looked realistic. Seaweed Sally squirted on us with the sea squirt which was really funny.”
Bradley 7J
“Today I had the opportunity to touch and feel some marine animals both alive and preserved which was awesome! A key highlight of this experience was touching an elephant snail and seeing its’ hidden shell because I thought it was cool to feel the slimy skin. I also thought it looked cute because it was kind of funny. I learnt about the different classifications of some marine animals like octopus (cephalopods) and echinoderms.”
Year 10 Art NGV Interactive Gallery Tour and Studio Workshop
The Year 10 Art class visited the NGV International on Thursday May 7 to participate in an Interactive tour and studio workshop. Students viewed artworks and discussed different ways artists have connected with and responded to the natural world. In the studio students explored patterning, adornment and images of nature, inspired by the themes and mark-making of contemporary artist Joshua Yeldham. They created unique and personalised artworks using a Dremel tool and Posca pens to carve and draw on photographs.
Ms Fiona Szabo Visual Arts Teacher
Year 12 Art Making and Exhibiting
As part of their Unit 3 studies, the Year 12 Art Making and Exhibiting students visited Buxton Contemporary Art Museum on Friday March 20. Students engaged in a guided interactive tour of the exhibition space at Buxton Contemporary and viewed the exhibition Hany Armanious: Stone Soup. Students developed insights into curatorial considerations, exhibition spaces and characteristics, exhibition design, didactic texts and information, and the roles and responsibilities involved in an exhibition. Students also participated in a workshop ‘Curate it!’ where they worked in teams to investigate, select and curate a selection of artworks from the Buxton Contemporary Collection to propose an exhibition.
Ms Fiona Szabo Art Making and Exhibiting Teacher
Year 10 Art NGV Interactive Gallery Tour and Studio Workshop
The Year 10s visited ACMI to watch the annual Top Screens submissions from 2025’s Year 12 cohort. We viewed submissions ranging from powerful, poetic documentaries, to comedies, animation, and ever-popular horror. After the screening, students had the chance to meet the filmmakers and hear them speak about their creative process in creating their films, as well as how they balanced their craft and studies during their final year of VCE. Finally, our media class had a chance to explore ACMI’s permanent collection, and connect with a wealth of Australian and international film history and artefacts. Overall, students had a fun time visiting the city and engaging in film history!
For a bit of entertainment, our VCE Music Unit 1 students performed a selection of their recital pieces during lunchtime!
This was an opportunity for our students to practice for their performance SAC. There was a large audience turnout which turned the pressure up for our performers! Everyone performed well and loved the opportunity to share their hard work.
Camp was down around Torquay Surf Coast. Students set up camp at Breamlea Day 1. Day 2 they hiked to Torquay and set up camp, then went kayaking. Day 3 they hiked to Bells Beach – the weather was horrible but students persevered and pushed through. They should be very proud of themselves for the resilience and determination they showed.
“Two weeks ago, we went to Torquay for our future leader’s camp. For the first day, we explored Breamlea beach and set up camp for the night. It was raining and hailing like crazy, not to mention it felt like it was -5 degrees (obviously it wasn’t actually -5 degrees, but it was just insanely cold). Almost no one got sleep that night but we all still pushed through.
On the second day, that’s when the real pains started. The hike was long we got hailed on very roughly and our heavy packs weren’t making the hike any better. Our backs were aching, our legs were sore and quite frankly, most of our bodies were in pure discomfort and pain but nonetheless, we pushed through it. Afterwards, we went kayaking and some of us even capsized purely for the fun of it (for those who don’t know what capsizing is, it’s basically just falling out of a boat) however we soon realised it was a huge mistake because the water was freezing cold and we had to walk back to the campsite. It was freezing but those memories will stick to us for life as either a good memory, or a bad one. But nonetheless, it was truly memorable.
For me personally, the memories were both good and bad, I regretted not bringing enough layers and the hike was one of the worst pains I’ve ever had to experience, but capsizing the boat with my friend was funny and it was something that I can tell to others at events later on as a story to be told. Roasting marshmallows was really fun too, despite the fact that I burnt most of mine.
On the third and last day, the hike was less treacherous, but with the pain from the previous day, it just added to the pain, however it was worth it because at the end, we went to a McDonald’s on the way back, and my god, I have never tasted such heavenly food in my life. In addition to that, when we all got back to school and then dismissed, the first thing I did when I got back home, was sleep. I’ve never felt grateful for the things in my life until that moment, the heater, my bed and most importantly, shower. If there’s one thing I learnt from the camp, is that you should be thankful for what you have in life, the camp really makes you appreciate for the things in life you took for granted.”
Krystal Bui 9G
Future Leaders Camp 2
Different experience to the first camp as weather was amazing. Students still did an amazing job of pushing through when it got tough, demonstrating resilience and support for each other.
“Future leaders camp lasted three days (Wednesday–Friday), it was a great but challenging experience. On day 1, we arrived at Breamlea caravan park and set up our tents. We then went for a beach walk and explored the rock pools, built sand castles, and drew on the sand. We then got free time—which allowed us to bond with our friends through board games and the park near the campsite—until we had to get ready for dinner. At night we went for another beach walk and the view was picturesque.
On day 2, we woke up at ~7 AM and packed up our tents and packs to go on our first hike (Breamlea to Torquay). Packing our belongings was stressful, as we had no space for our tent and Trangia. The hike was gruelling, and took us about 3 and a half hours. When we got to Torquay caravan park, we set up our tents and went kayaking. We learned to capsized, which was a beneficial experience. After kayaking, we went back to our campsite and showered in the clean bathrooms. Afterwards, we made dinner, and our favourite meal was s’mores. There were a lot of possums in the area, and they tried to eat our food and trash. At night, it was frigid, which made it difficult to sleep.
The next morning (final day), we got up at 7 AM once again, and packed our tents to go on our last hike (Torquay to Bells beach). The hike took us roughly 3 hours, and was exhausting and demanding; however, the views on the way were breathtaking. The last part of the hike was the most challenging. We were already tired from the hike, but to get to the carpark where the buses were parked, we had to go up many steps, which was painful because of our heavy packs. When we reached the carpark, it was euphoric. It was finally over, and it was a great achievement. Afterwards, we went to McDonalds and ate lunch. After that, we went back to school and unpacked the packs and tents from the buses.
We all learnt many things, including survival skills like: kayaking, how to set up tents, how to use a Trangia, and how to wear and pack our hiking packs. Overall Future leaders camp was a great and educational experience. It taught us how to lead and collaborate, and it helped us build new friendships.”
On Tuesday the 19th of November, Wellington Secondary College proudly took a team of 40 students to compete at the Monash District Cross Country event. Despite challenging weather conditions, with rain and cold temperatures throughout the day, our students demonstrated outstanding resilience, determination and sportsmanship.
A special congratulations goes to Pratyush Prasannarajan who finished 2nd in his age group and Richner Sothear who finished 3rd in his. Their fantastic performances were a highlight of a very successful day for the college.
The event was a great success overall, with both staff and students braving the tough conditions and supporting one another throughout the competition. We are incredibly proud of the effort and attitude displayed by all students involved.
We now look forward to taking a team through to the EMR event on Thursday the 11th of June and wish our qualifying students the very best of luck.
Term 2 Interschool Sport
Term 2 interschool sport started last Friday the 15th. We had senior teams out competing in Basketball, Badminton and Soccer. This was the last chance for our senior students to participate in interschool sport due to a busy academic schedule in semester 2.
Well done to all students who represented our college in the true Wellington way, and a special congratulations to the Senior Boys A Basketball team who won their competition and will now go on to represent the school at the EMR level.
Our plan was to celebrate the day for Mothers and Mother figures in our life. The SCR decided on card making which went on for 2 days (Wednesday and Thursday) and bake sales of cupcakes on Friday. In addition, other items such as keychains, keyrings, mugs, crocheted flowers, notebooks and jewelry box were also sold on the day. Overall, the event was a success and we made $260 profit in total. We’ve also decided to donate our earnings to the ‘Impact for Women’ organisation, which prioritise on making a difference to Victorian women and children fleeing from extreme violence at home.
“For Mother’s Day, I got to lend a hand in the baking process, where I baked delicious and sweet-scented cupcakes to be sold. This was an awesome activity because I got to learn how to bake cupcakes, I was lucky enough to bake with one of my friends, and I got to contribute to supporting an abundance of sweet-tooth mothers too.” – Knight Touch 9J
“On May 6 and 7, SRC organised a lunchtime activity where students could make cards for their mothers or someone special. My friend and I went to makerspace on Thursday, and we had a great time making cards together. The next day, SRC also hosted a bake sale and sold gifts for Mother’s Day, offering cupcakes and a few Mother’s Day related gifts. I appreciated the opportunity to help SRC with the Mother’s Day events, especially with baking and decorating the cupcakes.” – Shravani Sathya 9D
We had a heap of fun on our excursion! We had to explore parts of Glen Waverley and decifer scavenger hunt questions in Chinese. After we finished hunting for the answers to our questions, we had a chance to explore and practice using our Chinese language skills when we wanted to order lunch or snacks. After that we got to watch a new Chinese film that recently came to cinemas in Australia! We all enjoyed ourselves, and it was great to be able to take our learning outside the classroom!
Di Laoshi/ Miss Hayley Dickinson Chinese Language Teacher
The Community Voice Team are fundraising through the Entertainment App, previously known as the Entertainment book. This is as great app – full of discount offers including 25% off, 2 for 1 deal, buy one, get one free from major companies across Australia. For every purchase, the college receives 20%. All monies raised will be used to support our students. In the past Community Voice has used donations to purchased new musical instruments and to support upgrades in the Performing Art Theatre.
