Edition 13: 28 August 2015

News from Wellington Secondary College

Wise Words

Wellington Journal

College Production 2015

We shall not find life by refusing to let go of our precious, protected selves. - The Most Rev. Dr Rowan Williams Archbishop of Canterbury 2002-2012

‘The Humour Games’August 25, 26, 27, 28

MJP Theatre, 7:00pm

This week saw the premiere of the College’s 2015 production, The Humour Games. The play (a slapstick parody of The Hunger Games) tells the story of Katskills Wintergreen and her fight to survive in a comedic battle to the death!

The cast and crew have been working extremely hard since March this year, to outstanding effect! The show formally opened on Tuesday to a packed house and had the audience in gales of laughter by night’s end, and all subsequent performances have been very well received.

We would like to congratulate all of the students involved in the cast and crew on their theatrical achievements! Their energy and enthusiasm lit up the stage at all points of the show. We would also like to thank and express our sincere appreciation for the hard work done by the show’s creative team, Mr Alexander, Mr Lake, Mr Shadur, Miss Masterton, and costume mistress Beth Telford for their efforts in bringing their vision for the play to life - without their hard work it would simply not occur. Once again, congratulations to all involved!

‘The Humour Games’

NAPLAN Testing

This week Years 7 and 9 parents received their children's NAPLAN reports for 2015. NAPLAN provides parents, teachers and students with a snapshot of learning in the areas of: Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation and Numeracy.

While Year 7 NAPLAN provides the educational story for students' senior primary learning experiences, the Year 9 reports provide a clear measure of the value added for students during their time at Wellington. Again, Wellington Secondary College performed consistently above State and Region benchmarks in all areas.

PISA Testing

Last week 17 Year 9 and 10 Wellington students participated in PISA, The Program for International Student Assessment. This is a triennial international survey of 15 year old students in over 70 countries.

This year the focus was on Science and the students completed a series of online tests which involved applying knowledge to real–life situations and creative problem solving. The data collected across the countries will inform government educational policies across the globe.

The PISA testing at Wellington was conducted in the presence of an International auditor employed by the United States to ensure quality control, a representative from ACER who oversees the testing in Australia, myself and David Tunnicliffe, who ensured that all our IT equipment worked perfectly. The feedback from ACER and the auditor was that our students were a delight to work with and were wonderful ambassadors for Australia. The students will receive a confidential individual report while all the overall findings will be published in 2016.

College Production

This week is also a huge week for Wellington as our school production hits the MJP Theatre. The 'Humour Games' is a comedy stage play that focuses on a yearly competition where young people from each of the twelve districts of 'Panfire' are selected and must battle to the death with various forms of comedy. The plot revolves around Katskills Wintergreen and her experiences during and after the humour games. The show is positively full of jokes, has sparkling, imaginative set, incredible costumes, and is guaranteed to be fun for the whole family.

The outstanding commitment and energy of both the students and staff involved in the school production deserves the highest praise. Director, Aben Alexander, Assistant Directors Duncan Lake and Rachael Masterton and Michael Shadur as Technical Manager and Beth Telford as costuming, have all done a fantastic job in bringing the show to life. They have had a cast of 53, 15 technical crew and 4 backstage crew to bring their vision to life. It is an enormous task and celebrates the best in teamwork and cooperative learning. Students have the wonderful opportunity to shine outside the classroom and the experience will live with them always.

3-Way Conference

A reminder to all parents and guardians that on Tuesday, 15 September we have our 3 Way Conferences. Parents are advised to download ththeir students' interim report from Compass from the 11 of September. This report will form the basis of conversations with teachers on

ththe 15 . Bookings can be made online and interpreters can be booked through your student's subject teacher. Students are expected to attend with their parents/guardians for an appointment between 1pm and 8pm on the day. A very small number of teachers will not be available so please contact the subject teacher if you would like an alternative time.

Presentation Ball

On Friday August, I had the pleasure of attending the College’s 2015 Presentation Ball at The Grand on Cathie’s Lane in Wantirna. Presentation Balls have a long history, and have been a much-enjoyed feature of Wellington’s college life for many years, and our students have worked very hard practising their dance routines in the months leading up to the event. The night saw 26 young ladies and gentlemen, all wonderfully attired in flowing white gowns and black tie, dance the night away in the company of staff, students, and hundreds of members of the College community. After being presented to the official party, which included our special guest, the Hon Daniel Andrews, MP Premier of Victoria, and College Principal Mr Hugh Blaikie, the young ladies and gentlemen demonstrated their newfound dancing skills. It was wonderful to see the couples showing such enthusiasm and energy in their routines!

I would like to thank the Premier for his attendance, and thank our young ladies and gentlemen for a very memorable evening. Special congratulations are due to Ms Carmel Ferrarin for her hard work as Presentation Ball Co-ordinator, and thank you to all staff and student leaders who assisted on the night. It was wonderful to see so many members of the broader College community in attendance, and I am very much looking forward to next year’s Ball.

Fern BrisbaneAssistant Principal

22

Principal’s Report

Congratulations to the following students who have been awarded French and Mandarin Students of Term 2 Certificates for their diligence and positive approach to the study of French and Mandarin. 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.

ALEXANDERTotal points earned for Alexander in Semester 1: 160

Ashley D'cruse 7K, Jonathan Huynh 8F, Nesreen Dabis 9F, Kimberly Nofi Kurniawan 7G, Sophea Pann 7K, Jason Le 8I, Kimberly Williams 8C, Helen Truong 7J, Brian Tran 8G

BORROWDALETotal points earned for Borrowdale in Semester 1: 120Julia Giang 7B, David Ly 7C, Kevin Tang 7D, Annie Shi 9D, Angela Lai 8L, Owen McDonell 8A

PENRHYNTotal points earned for Penrhyn in Semester 1: 120

Nisha Udayakumar 7L, Lina Song 8H, Jonny Tran 7H, Ivy Huangzone 7L

SIRIUSTotal points earned for Sirius in Semester 1: 60

Sarah Cangy 8B, Vicky Mach 8L, Putri Putri 7A, Jessica Kaing 8D

M. Sookhareea

23

Author Simon Higgins Visits Wellington

On Tuesday we had the author Simon Higgins visit to address our year 7 students and conduct 3 workshop sessions. His published works include crime thrillers, adventure and speculative fiction. Simon is the author of the Moonshadow and Tomodachi series of books.

Simon talked about his previous work experiences (a policeman) before he became a writer. He is also a keen follower of the martial arts and gave a brief demonstration of his sword skills.

Students were impressed with Simon's explanation of how he became involved with writing. They were also given an insight of how important it is to research the area you are wanting to write about. This gives the work credibility.

In the workshop sessions, Simon illustrated some of the steps involved in developing a piece of writing. Students were asked to produce a piece of writing with set instructions. The students were up to the challenge and produced some very good writing.

Simon was impressed with the students at Wellington and he remarked how well behaved and responsive they were.

We hope to have Simon back in the near future.

Emilius MuscellaLibrarian

French and Mandarin Students of the Term

The 2014 Presentation Ball was held on Friday 21August. All our young ladies and gentlemen looked very glamorous in their attire. It was wonderful to see so many families, friends and staff attending this major school function. Students, guests and officials all had a great time as the dance floor remained packed all night long.

The couples excelled on the dance floor, displaying their mastery of a number of fantastically entertaining dance routines. The couples were presented to our special guest on the evening, the Hon Daniel Andrews MP Premier of Victoria, our Principal Mr Hugh Blaikie, and our School Council President, Mrs Mereh Acar.

I would like to thank Mr Peter Rowley-Bates, Mrs Dulcie Commons whose hard work has helped make this event such a success. I would also like to

thank my fantastic team of helpers on the evening: Mr Evangelos Sakaris, Ms Sarah Cattermole, Mr Simon Coles, Ms Jessica Wallis, Ms Lani Sailers, and Ms Lauren Elverd, as well as the many student leaders who attended also did a wonderful job.

Carmel FerrarinPresentation Ball Co-ordinator

24

Presentation Ball

Immunisations

The combined Tetanus, Diphtheria and Whooping Cough injection for Year 10 students will be given on Thursday morning (17 September) by the Immunisation Nurses from Monash Council. This is during the last week of Term 3. Students are permitted to wear their PE uniform on this day so that there is easy access to the upper arm.

This is the FINAL injection of a series which commenced when students were babies. It is very important to complete this course of injections so that students have an optimal level of immunisation to these diseases going into adulthood.

Please return any outstanding permission cards to the Nurse. If families have received a letter and consent form from Monash Council regarding missed immunisations, please complete the form and return it to Monash Council. Your letter included a reply paid envelope for that purpose.

For further information, please contact the College Nurse, Margaret Jarvis.

VSSS RehearsalsOn August 19, accompanied by Ms Reidy, Mrs Tunnicliffe, and Mr Coles, Wellington's participants in the Victorian State Schools Spectacular headed out to the Melbourne Town Hall for an all-day rehearsal with all principal singers and the full band. All involved are working hard and looking forward to the main show in a couple of weeks!

Held on Saturday 12 September, the Spectacular is the biggest live music production in Victoria and will see our students join a cast of over 3000, consisting of a mass choir of 1500 students, 1400 dancers, an 80-piece orchestra, 25 solo singers, 24 solo orchestra, as well as a cadre of circus performers from the National Institute of Circus Arts, in an exhibition of the talent and skill of Victorian State School students. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Spectacular, and its theme is 'What's Your Story?' It will be a show not to be missed!

25

Year 9 - Food Technology

As part of their Products and Design studies, Mr Newsome’s Year 11 students are designing and creating their own flat pack timber furniture items (think Ikea!). Each of the items seen here disassembles to a completely flat state.

Jason Barth (below)

Year 11 Products and Design

This week saw Ms Elverd’s Year 9 Food Around the

World class take a trip ‘south of the border, down

Mexico way’, with the class preparing beef burritos,

Mexican fried rice, and one of the all-time classic

snacks, nachos!

Ingredients:

8 (25cm round) tortillas½ Medium onion, finely chopped2 cups grated tasty cheese1 garlic clove, crushed½ teaspoon hot paprika1 cup crushed tomatoes in juice2/3 cup sour cream1 packet taco seasoning (35g)2 tablespoons oil300g minced beef½ cup kidney beans, rinsed and drained.

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees2. Dice onion and crush garlic. 3. Heat oil in a medium saucepan on low-medium heat.4. Add mince and cook until browned. 5. Add onion and garlic. Cook for 1-2 minutes until onion is soft. 6. Stir in crushed tomatoes, taco seasoning, and kidney beans.7. Simmer on low heat for 15 minutes or until mixture is thick and fairly dry.8. Divide mixture evenly among the tortillas. Roll and secure with toothpick.9. Placed filled tortillas on Glad Bake lined tray. Sprinkle with cheese and paprika. 10. Bake for 10 minutes until cheese melts.11. Remove toothpicks. Serve with sour cream.

Recipe courtesy of Lauren Elverd, on behalf of Food Technology.

Marwa Sadiqi William Sayaphet

26

College Production - ‘The Humour Games’

27

College Production - ‘The Humour Games’

Breakfast Club has seen some big changes this term. It has been moved to the Wellbeing Centre and is now operating 3 mornings a week. Students are provided with cereal, toasted sandwiches, juice and fruit.

Thanks to the support from the Wellbeing Team and the Careers Team it is proving to be a great social gathering and a nice warm place to spend the time before school, while enjoying some yummy food.

Special thanks to Tamara Macgrath (Adolescent Health Nurse) who did a great job in putting together an application for the Leader newspaper Local Grant Awards and thanks to the support of our community we were successful in winning $1000.

50 – 60 students are accessing the service on a regular basis so this money will enable us to continue to buy supplies for next term.

We would love to hear from any members of our school community who would like to donate supplies - bread, cheese, cereal, fruit, juice or milk to help us to continue to provide this much needed service.

Carmel RobertsStudent Wellbeing Co-ordinator

28

Leaders In The Making

Breakfast Club

On Thursday 13 August, Wellington Secondary College hosted the second session of the Monash Network 'Leaders in the Making' program.

Included amongst the 24 young leaders from schools in our network, were Wellington teachers and leaders Sarah Cattermole, Troy Diaz, Lani Sailers and Rochelle Dickson.

Each of the participants in the program has been recognized and chosen by their principals for their potential to become the 'next generation' of school leaders and the program is designed to nurture and foster that potential.

The topic for the session at Wellington was 'Developing High Performing Teams' and College Principal, Mr Hugh Blaikie, delivered the keynote address in which he set out his own personal journey as an educational leader.

With three sessions still to go, as well as the development of individual projects to benefit their schools, the leaders are becoming better prepared to serve their own aspirations as well as the needs of their schools.

Mr Michael StephensDirector of Professional Learning

On Thursday 13 August Wellington took 4 teams to the Monash District Table Tennis Competition. The heats were intense and Carolyn nearly exploded from the heat! At the end of the day everybody had fun and Wellington A Girls and Wellington A Boys were victorious.

Both teams are competing in Eastern Metropolitan Region on 28 October. Special thanks to Mr Chew, Miss White and Mr Nguyen for helping on the day.

Naomi White

Intermediate Table Tennis

29

Careers Information - VTAC

Year 12 students need to apply for tertiary courses through VTAC. Course details can be found at www.vtac.edu.au and students register thand apply for courses via the same website. Students must apply for between 1 and 12 courses by September 30 and will be required to pay

tha $29 fee to VTAC. It is possible to change courses after this date, even after the release of ATARs on December 14 . To assist with choosing courses the Year 12 students have had one or more appointments with a careers advisor at College and after-school sessions are being offered to assist with applications.

In addition to applying for courses via VTAC students can also apply for a range of financial scholarships and for the Special Entry Access Scheme (SEAS). SEAS recognises disadvantage in education, such as financial disadvantage (e.g. if parents/guardians receive Family Tax benefit or any other Centrelink payment), illness/disability and difficult circumstances (such as illness in the family or family

thproblems). The SEAS application is due on October 6 and enables students to get into a course with a lower ATAR than would normally thbe required. Evidence is required for some categories and must also be submitted to VTAC by October 6 .

Not all students are planning to go on to university and may be interested in applying for apprenticeships. We encourage these students to apply for pre-apprenticeship courses at TAFE, which, once completed, makes it easier to find an apprenticeship. The Careers Office can also assist with applications for pre-apprenticeships. Parents/Guardians with any queries are welcome to contact the College Careers office or can access more information about VTAC on the website at www.vtac.edu.au

Lucinda HufferDirector of Student Pathways

Southern Cross Cultural Exchange

22828218

Wellington Journal - Fortnightly Newsletter of Wellington Secondary College - Designed & Edited by Mr Simon Coles.

Editorial Support by Mrs Dianne Schneider. Printing and Technical Support by Mr Brian Foster and Mr David Kerrisk.

Wellington Journal - Fortnightly Newsletter of Wellington Secondary College - Designed & Edited by Mr Simon Coles.

Editorial Support by Mrs Dianne Schneider. Printing and Technical Support by Mr Brian Foster and Mr David Kerrisk.