Year 10 Snow Day UPCOMING DATES: Wellington Secondary College
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J O U R N A L
News from Wellington Secondary College Edition 12: August 9 2019
UPCOMING DATES:
Presentation Ball - August 23
Production Week - August 26 to 31
3-Way Conferences - September 18
Year 10 Snow Day
On Friday August 2, 41 students and
eight teachers were up before the break
of dawn, ready to make our school’s
annual trip to Mt Buller. The promise
of beautiful weather made the early
morning wake up a little easier, but there
were still plenty of people sleeping on
the bus trip up to the mountain.
Students spent the first hour and a half
in either skiing or snowboarding lessons
and many soon realised that it is not as
easy as it looks.
After a quick bite to eat to refill our
energy levels, most were back out on
the slopes again, however some opted to
take a more go-slow approach and were
having great fun building snowmen and
enjoying the beautiful views.
By the afternoon, the snow was stating
to melt and the runs were turning a
little slushy. This made for some extra
cushioning when falling over. Sadly, 4
o’clock came around too quickly and we
found ourselves on the bus again making
our way back down the mountain. With
a quick dinner stop in Yea, we were on
the last leg home and made it back to
school safe and sound by 8:30pm.
I would like to thank all the staff members
who gave up their time to help supervise
this trip, along with all 41 students who
personified the true Wellington Way all
day on the mountain.
Troy Diaz
Head of Middle School
P r i n c i p a l ’s R ep o r t
Masterplan Update Parent Opinion Survey
We are now entering Stage 2 of Each year, the school conducts an opinion survey amongst a
our masterplan and putting to use sample of the school community. The data from the survey
the knowledge gained over the last will be used to inform and direct our future school planning
three years as the Vanellus Centre and improvement. If your family was selected to participate
was designed and constructed. A in the 2019 Parent Opinion Survey you were emailed a link to
number of architectural firms will the survey and instructions on how to complete it.
be presenting to us late next week,
we will then choose the company If you have already completed the survey, thank you for your
to design the rebuild of Blocks A, B feedback. If you haven’t yet completed the survey, we ask you
and C and the transformation of the to take a few minutes to do so prior to August 18. Please be
old Library into a new Wellbeing assured that your responses are anonymous and completely
and Inclusion Hub. confidential.
Presentation Ball College Production - Shrek
Students have been practising for some time for the ball Yet another anticipated item on our calendar which will be
which will be held on August 23, a much anticipated event on fantastic. Those involved are putting in an incredible amount
our calendar. We are looking forward to Mr Daniel Andrews, of work to ensure the success of this production which will be
Premier of Victoria, again making time to attend and be a part staged from August 28 to 31. Tickets are selling fast. If you
of the official party. would like to come along, please purchase your tickets soon.
Planning for 2020 Overseas Travellers
Students have almost completed the process of subject Miss Connie and Mr Rowley-Bates have returned from their
selection for next year, taking a lot of care to ensure that their trip to Vietnam and Cambodia, making contact with many
pathway needs will be met. I thank all of the staff involved parents of our International Students and reporting on the
in guiding the students through this process. When this progress of their child. These parents find the visit invaluable
process is complete, we will be deciding class numbers and and are reassured that their child is being cared for whilst in
unfortunately all students may not get their desired subjects – Australia.
staff will work with those students to choose alternatives that
will still meet their needs. Another element of the trip is to maintain contact with the
Education Agents who facilitate the enrolment of students
Prospective Year 7 students have submitted placement forms from these countries into Australian schools. We continue
and the number of families choosing Wellington is again to have strong links with these agents and have developed
high. Enrolment packs have been sent out to these families a strong reputation as a school of choice, thanks to the work
and we will know in a few weeks what our number of new done on these trips.
students will be.
Dan Butler
We have begun the process of addressing our staffing needs for Assistant Principal
2020 and will be advertising vacancies and appointing staff as
needed. As is the case every year, we will be farewelling staff
at the end of the year and welcoming new staff for next year.
Big Things Mural
Last year, the Year 10 combined Visual Communication Design and Studio Arts classes produced a series of posters celebrating
Australian provincial towns and their “big things”. This year, the works are out on display and form the “Big Things Mural”
opposite the Vanellus. The VCD/SA class included Nephele Bermpatis, Caila Browning, Kiarra Clearihan, Jordan Davis,
Zayne Ferguson, Sama Harris, Donald In, Izaak Kamira, Mary Kranias, Tahlia Margiolakis, Blake Mcclain, Cloe Mcleod,
Annie Nguyen, Michelle Pham, Jenny Phung, Leila Rekic, Nancy Trenh, Helen Vo, Yasmin Yim.
Evangelos Sakaris
Art Teacher
RACI Titration Competition
Three students (Tony La, Mimi Thoi and Quang Nguyen) completed the Royal Australian Chemical Institute titration
competition on Wednesday July 24.
They determined the concentration of a vinegar solution through a series of titrations. The aim was to get within 0.0001 of the
true value. Results will be announced late in August.
Good luck.
Penelope Hale
Director of STEM Education
Presentation Ball Rehearsals
This year’s Presentation Ball has been such a fun experience to be a part of. It’s
been really great to hang out with my friends and do some physical activity.
The first few lessons were a bit awkward, since none of us really wanted to
dance with the people we didn’t know, but we all got used to it and it has been
awesome getting to know everyone else taking part. Mrs Vermulst is an amazing
dance teacher and she’s really gone above and beyond, putting so much of her
time into teaching us the dances. Mrs Salmon has also been great in helping us
learn all of the dance moves as well.
I’m really looking forward to seeing the whole night come together and dancing
in my dress that was way too expensive.
Holly Pirotta, 11I
Climate Crisis
The climate crisis is a warming of the Earth. Greenhouse So, what are we doing for this?
Gases are released into the air causing reactions with our
The E-Squad is holding an event called Earth Hour on
environment and heating up our earth rapidly. So, why
September 11 at 11am-12pm. We ask for as much
should we care? This crisis is not just affecting other
cooperation as possible. We would like classes to go
countries but our own as well. Australian wildlife are
without lights, devices, aircon/heating or projectors.
dependent on certain environments, and if these
However, we understand that some classes might need
environments change, wildlife can become extinct, which
power for their classes. The classes will have activities
means no more kangaroos, koalas, platypuses, wombats,
based on Earth Hour, and will outline why we are doing
etc. The Great Barrier Reef will continue to be bleached,
Earth Hour.
killing all the sea life around Australia. This crisis is also
affecting our Australian homes. Now, in Western
Queensland, there is the worst drought that has happened
in Australia in a long time. The fires around Australia have
grown larger each year with the increasing of the climate
crisis.
Earth hour is an event that people do all over the world
where they turn off power to conserve energy and raise
awareness of the impact that energy consumption has on
the environment. In this movement, we empower
environmental conservation, and how much difference
one hour of no energy can do to our environment.
Global Village Speech Competition - “China in my Eyes”
On Friday July 26, Alejandra Amaya (8F), Leon Adcock (11A) and
Zakeem Imran (8J) participated in the pre-selection of the Global
Village Speech Competition at Melbourne Grammar School. In this
competition, all participants were required to give a two minute speech
in Chinese without referring to any kind of notes. It was a very lengthy
competition starting from 6.30pm and ending at nearly 11pm. Alejandra
excelled during her performance and successfully made it through to
the final held at Fintona Girls’ School on Sunday July 28. She was
awarded the 3rd prize in the final.
Year 11 student, Leon Adcock, also made a very impressive speech on
the night even though his turn was at nearly 11pm. He was very close
to making through to the final.
I’d like to commend the students’ courage, passion, determined effort, perseverance
and most of all, their exemplary Chinese speaking skills as second language learners.
I would also like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Ms Dong for her
support to Alejandra’s speech scripts
Haijin Zhuang
Languages Curriculum Leader
On Friday July 26, I attended the 10th Goodtalk (Global Village) Children and
Youth Bilingual Speech Conference, where I, along with many other primary and
secondary school students from all around Victoria, spoke about ‘China in my Eyes’.
Approximately 100 students took part in this competition, of which only 15 primary
school students and 10 secondary school students qualified for the finals. I spoke
about many of my interests related to China such as the Ice and Snow Festival held
in the city of Harbin and the Chinese television drama ‘Meteor Garden’, entirely
in Chinese, in the presence of three judges and many spectators. Thankfully I was
selected to proceed to the finals after presenting my speech.
As a part of the finals I was paired with a Chinese exchange student. We combined
the speeches we had made into one, to produce a speech that was 3 minutes in length.
‘Sally’, who was my partner, spoke in English while I spoke in Chinese once again.
On Sunday July 28, we presented our final speech and received 3rd place. I am very
grateful that I was presented with the opportunity to participate in this competition
as I got the chance to observe and learn many things about Chinese culture that I did
not know and also meet new people.
Alejandra Amaya-Ruiz, 8F
S c r e e n t i m e Fo r Yo u r C h i l d
There is a lot of conflicting advice and emerging research
around screen time. The right amount of screen time can
depend on a range of factors like;
• your child’s age and maturity
• the kind of content they are consuming
• their learning needs and
• your family routine
Be involved
Sharing screen time and online activities like gaming with
your child helps you gauge the appropriateness of what they
are doing and manage potential risks.
It’s also a great way to start conversations with your child
about their online experiences.
Work with your child to set boundaries for screen use
If you decide that setting screen time limits is right for you
and your child, discuss these new rules with your child.
Older children are more likely to cooperate if they have
been part of the decision-making process.
Ask your child to explain their screen use
Colourful pictures or charts of daily limits and other import-
Get your child in the habit of explaining why they want to
ant activities is a fun way to get younger children on board.
be in front of a screen or online. It’s a great way to get them
thinking about their own digital habits and balancing screen
Be clear about the consequences of not switching off
time with other activities.
Part of our role as parents is to set clear limitations and
boundaries.
Use tech tools to help manage access
The same applies to technology limitations so, being clear
There are robust products and device functions which allow
and consistent about the consequences for your child if they
you to see which apps are being used in your home and for
do not stick to these rules is paramount. The Raising Chil-
how long. But try not to use these tools to secretly monitor
dren Network provides some useful tools and advice.
your child. Instead, be open about the process and check the
whole family’s usage, including your own. Start with Goo-
Set device-free zones and times at home
gle Family Link for Android devices or parental controls
Device-free zones can help you manage your family’s dig-
and Screen Time for iPhone/iPad.
ital use. Here are some ideas for setting digital boundaries
within your home:
Lead by example
• no devices in the bedroom for younger children
Your behaviour is one of the most effective ways to help
• all screens off in bedrooms after a certain time for older
your child develop a positive digital mindset. Show your
children
child you can put down your device too.
• all screens off at least one hour before planned bedtime
• all family members switch off at dinner time
• charge devices overnight in a place your child cannot
access
Parent Opinion Survey
IF YOU WERE SELECTED, PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY
BY SUNDAY AUGUST 18
It takes no more than 10 minutes to complete.
As the survey is anonymous we have no way to tell who has completed it, so we have to email
everyone that was invited to participate.
If you have completed the survey and receive a reminder, we thank you for taking the time.
If you have not completed the survey and receive a reminder, we ask that you please take the
time to complete it.
Natasha Dickinson
Acting Assistant Principal
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