Welcome to Term 2
Firstly, I would like to welcome each of our new students and their families who are starting their Wellington journey with us this term and wish them all the best for their time here at Wellington.
We are starting the first of our winter terms, so all students will be required to wear their tie as part of their school uniform for Term 2 and Term 3.
In the coming weeks students will be taking part in the Year 8 Camp to Phillip Island Adventure Camp for 5 days and the Performing Arts Camp will be going to Rutherford Park Country Retreat for 3 days. I wish all the staff and students who will be attending these events all the very best. It will be great to hear the stories and excitement that is generated from their experiences that they have at these extra-curricular opportunities.
Congratulations!
Jayden McEwan of Year 9 recently competed at the Victorian State Schools Swimming Championships in Melbourne and incredibly won two silver medals and 2 bronze medals. We are all very proud of Jayden’s achievements and the way that he demonstrates great sportsmanship and humility with all that he does in swimming.
Department of Education and OECD researcher visit
Last Friday, we had the privilege of hosting a delegation from the Department of Education and the President and CEO of Rodel – Mr Paul Herdman. Paul is researching student education and pathways across 5 different countries; we are very fortunate as a college to have a wonderful careers team, and this was mentioned numerous times throughout the visit.
New Middle School Locker Bay
Over the next few weeks, we will be putting plans in place to move student lockers from their existing space up to the new locker bay. It will be a great addition to our already thriving Middle School precinct. I would like to thank Mr Butler and his team for organising this project.
Anzac Day
Mr Simon Coles – Acting Assistant Principal, helped run our Anzac Day assembly on Thursday with our College Captains and Vice Captains. It was a great way to reflect and honour those who served. 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.
School Tours
We continue to run school tours for future Year 7 families up to 3 times a week and I’m pleased to say that they are full each time with 20 people coming in to see our school in operation and meeting our wonderful staff and students in their everyday learning environment.
Brendan Dwyer
Acting Principal
To celebrate the last day of Term 1, the school hosted a final lunchtime concert! We heard some very talented students and staff performing during the event. Congratulations to all the students who performed: Henry Hua, Daniella Nikolaou, Jordan Masip, Lara Bui, Dan Tran and Georgie Karanasios!
It was great to see some of our teachers perform as well. The Staff Bands performance of “Goo Goo Muck” finished the show, and Mr. Blaikie pulled off some amazing dance moves to end the concert. Thank you to Ms. Meadows, Mr. Driscoll, Mr. Oien, Mr. Keat, Mr. Coles, Ms. Hawke & Mr. Blaikie for their amazing efforts!
There are too many to name, but a big thank you to all the student helpers who assisted with the setup, pack up and running of the event. It was an absolutely amazing way to end the term. We look forward to more performances like this in the future!
Mr. Tray Driscoll
Arts Curriculum Leader & Instrumental Music Coordinator
On March 25, French students in years 9, 10 and 11 partook in an immersive cultural excursion in which they visited the ‘Kino’ Cinema located in the city’s CBD. The students were invited to view a French movie named ‘Tenor.’ The film was one of the many French films that was selected to be a part of this year’s ‘Alliance Française French Film Festival’ The festival was devised in Australia with the intention of highlighting the richness and diversity of French cinema. For the group of Wellington students who attended, the experience seemed to encapsulate this very goal. After a brief train ride, the students and the supervising teachers walked to ‘Collins place’ to reach the Kino cinema. On the walk to the Cinema, students were encouraged to spot any iconic French brands (such as Chanel and Dior) and take photos of the storefront as part of a scavenger hunt activity devised by the teachers. As students located and snapped photos of various French brands, they were reminded of how much French culture surrounds us in our daily lives. The activity was not only enjoyable, but also allowed for collaboration and an overall appreciation for French culture.
As the students arrived at the Kino Cinema, they purchased various snacks and drinks in preparation for the film viewing. The film chosen this year by the students was named ‘Tenor’ and it followed Antoine, a young Parisian student who studies accounting without much interest of his own, using his spare time to participate in rap battles and his job as a sushi delivery boy. During one of his sushi deliveries at the Garnier Opera, his path crosses that of Mrs. Loyseau, an opera teacher in the renowned institution offers to develop his raw talent. Despite his hesitation and lack of operatic knowledge at first, Antoine soon becomes fascinated by the form of music and becomes dedicated to Mrs. Loyseau’s teaching. However, Antoine has no choice but to lie to his family and friends about his passion for which opera is a shameful and unusual thing, far from their world.
The film was an incredible experience for the students as they not only got to hear raw and fluent dialogue in French but also immersed themselves in the everyday practices and customs of French culture. It also allowed them to add countless new words to their vocabulary which many practised out loud after the viewing of the film commenced. After a quick lunch break, the students began to walk around the city, visiting some of the iconic parts of Melbourne’s CBD such as Hozier Lane and Federation Square. A selected few also stopped at the ‘Lune Croissanterie’ located in the CBD which is famous for its long lines and its buttery croissants. The croissants themselves are supposedly prepared over three days which allow them to be meticulously folded to produce a light, airy experience coated by its crunchy exterior. The Croissanterie’s menu featured various French patisserie such as ‘Kouigan Amann’ (a traditional pastry from the Bretagne region of France) and variations of the croissant such as Pain au Chocolat and filled croissants with ham and gruyère. The shop provided yet another insight into an iconic part of French culture and we had the perfect afternoon snack to round off a day of experiencing French culture. Overall, this experience was extremely fun for students and teachers alike, as well as an educational view of French culture outside of the bounds of our textbooks.
Written by Una. C and Tanishka. S of 9M
On the last day of Term 1 (6th of April), the SRC held the first casual dress day of the year! The day required students who were in casual dress day to donate a gold coin which would support a current world issue. In order to decide on the charity that the money we collected was dedicated to, Miss Clarke pushed out a google form to the SRC Microsoft Teams page. The options included many meaningful and currently relevant causes/charities that were brainstormed in a previous meeting by the SRC collectively; the largest proportion of votes were for the World Vision Syria/Turkey Earthquake Appeal, and so that is where the money collected was donated to.
We ended up raising $872 in total, which is amazing! Thank you to everyone who donated, we’re looking forward to running our next casual dress day this term (date undecided as of now).
Tahlia Ocal, 12G
SRC President
If you would like to make a contribution, please follow the link below.
During the middle of term 1, some selected Unit 1 & 2 Biology students got another chance to go to GTAC – Gene Technology Access Centre which is located in Parkville for a session about the usage of stem cells to understand and treat heart-related health problems and diseases.
It was a great chance for us to see the applications of stem cells in real life and to talk to all of the scientists, and each of them has their own specialisation. This allowed us to explore many branches of science and we asked numerous questions, which sometimes it is hard to express at school. Moreover, getting to see stem cells in real life allows us to visualise better and make the concept that we will study in Unit 1 Biology understandable and interesting.
Representing the group of students, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the GTAC, reNEW project, Miss La, and the STEM department for giving us this unforgettable opportunity.
– Chris Doan, 10C
On the 10th of March, my friends and I have had an opportunity to visit the Gene Technology Access Centre in Parkville in order to investigate and learn about stem cells and how scientists have manipulated it to treat problematic heart diseases that have taken away hundreds of lives around the world.
At the site, I have had a chance to talk to multiple scientists who are currently studying and working on projects relating to heart diseases, which is great as I can learn more about how they have use mini-heart, mechanical valves and other techniques in order to experiment new drugs and procedures that can potentially save millions of lives.
Specifically, I was able to talk to Adeline, a PhD graduate, about heart muscles diseases and how she has used online models and mathematical statistics in order to dissect the genetics origins of this chronic illnesses, which is interesting as I was able to understand the complexity of a scientific research where scientists must manipulate numerical data in order to enhance their understanding of the issues.
Through the program, I have gained more knowledges and understandings about the current issues that scientists are facing regarding to heart diseases, which provokes me to consider to become a scientist as I would like to use my scientific knowledges in order to treat problematic illnesses that can kill thousands of people. Through this, I strongly recommend other students to participate in this program in the future as it provides you with an insight on not only how scientists cooperate to propose a solution, but also about their individual experiences as researchers who is passionate to learn new concepts and ideas.
– John Ho, 10E
On Friday April 28 Jayden McEwan competed at MSAC representing Wellington at the State Swimming Championships.
He competed in a total of 5 events during the day: 200m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly, 100m Freestyle, 50m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke. He swam a number of personal bests and walked away with two second place and two third place medals. A fantastic achievement!
Official results
2nd – 200 Freestyle – 2:09.22
3rd – 50 Butterfly – 29.23
3rd – 100 Freestyle – 57.68
2nd – 50 Backstroke – 29.88
All Personal Bests!
Overall team scores, Jayden managed to gain 32 points, placing Wellington 32nd out of 150 schools.
Ms. Kym Osmand
Health and Physical Education Teacher
We have had a wonderful experience during this year’s VYL India program. I would like to thank our students for their participation, enthusiasm and commitment to the program this term. During the closing ceremony on April 4, it was clear to see the connections our students had made and the impact it has had on their cultural awareness.
– Ms. Teresa La
Director of STEM Education
Biology and General Science Teacher
Throughout the 7 weeks of the Victorian Young Leaders Program, we had 5 weeks to create a STEM project on a chosen Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), which was SDG 5 Gender Equality. Throughout the program we worked with our partner school, the Jain International Residential School in India, to think of a STEM solution to our SDG on AirMeet. We began by working on a jamboard, which helped us decide our chosen SDG and our solution to that SDG. Later on, we began our pitch by planning on Google Slides, later moving to Prezi, and closely discussing with our peers over in India how to complete the Design Challenge and record a video to show other participating schools in the program. Other than working on our Design Challenge, us and our partner Indian school discussed global competence questions to gain an understanding of the two different countries during our live meetings. Outside of AirMeet, where our main communication and project were on us, students were given the chance to complete a course to get a global competence certificate (GCC). The course had 12 modules, which were released in parts and updated every week. The GCC offered us new perspectives, allowing us to comment and collaborate on ideas about our culture and us as individuals.
On April 4th, it was our last session of the Victorian Young Leaders program where we showed our final product of our STEM solution. We and Jain Residential School showcased our solution through a video about the pay gap between women and men and how we can solve this problem. Throughout the closing ceremony, we were able to witness the other participating schools’ solutions, and at the end of the ceremony, a highlights video was shown, followed by me and others being brought up to the stage to talk about our highlights of the program like how my highlight was the in-person forum and winning a $25 Booktopia voucher for being 1st on the leaderboard. After the official program finished, we and some other students transferred to our table to show our blooper reel, which was supposed to be in the video but was unfortunately cut. We would like to thank Value Learning for allowing us to participate in the Victorian Young Leaders to India program and the Global Competence Certificate. We would also like to thank Ms. La for helping us during the program when we had any difficulties and supervising us.
John Modouris, 9A
Sleep is like food for your brain. Getting enough sleep is important for your physical and mental wellbeing. Sleep lets your mind recharge and process information. It’s the only part of the day that your body gets to rest and repair.
Sleep can make you feel better, think more clearly and concentrate better. It gives you energy to complete tasks and can make you more alert. Sleep helps with learning and memory and makes it really important for retaining information. Without enough sleep you may have problems with thinking, concentrating, memory, reaction times and mood.
Here are some tips that might help you to sleep better:
Shannon Pook
Mental Health Practitioner
Student Wellbeing Team
BE AWARE. SHOW YOU CARE.
FOR INFORMATION AND ADVICE CALL 1300 728 000
Danielle Delaney & Olivia Thompson
First Aid Officers
