Welcome to this month’s edition of the W-Files. Term 1 has been an exciting and productive period for both student learning experiences and extracurricular activities. A number of activities outside of the classroom have provided students with opportunities to increase their connectedness to WHS, strengthen friendships and impact positively on student wellbeing. These are all key factors in ensuring our students and children are happy, healthy, resilient and productive, and greatly impacts our focus on the “Wellbeing of Learning”.

Some highlights have been our whole-school Athletics Carnival, Harmony Day, International Women’s Day, and the World’s Greatest Shave. School tours have also taken place with demand for a place at Williamstown High School reaching record levels - a fantastic reflection on our wonderful school community, made up of fantastic staff, highly engaged and supportive families and exceptional students. Many other activities, such as immersion program showcasing, sporting, debating, camps and incursions and excursions amongst others, have taken place. Please enjoy reading about some of these events and the photos taken of them in this edition of the W-Files.

Athletics Carnival

Our Athletics Carnival is one of two events on our calendar where we bring both campuses together as a whole school (Town Hall Assembly being the other event). This has truly become so much more than the sporting events alone, with Year 12 dress-ups, students in house colours, music showcasing, Greatest Shave event and a real bonding and celebratory vibe.

The carnival is truly one of the most enjoyable days I personally look forward to as I love walking amongst the groups of students chatting and just seeing the fun they are having. It has become a bit of a ritual for students to approach me for a selfie, and perhaps this is with the intent of having their photo published in the W-Files. This is something I enjoy, so please find a selection below. But this also serves to remind me what is important about my role and how much satisfaction this gives me, that is creating a safe, harmonious and joyful environment where young people can thrive.

School Council Elections

I am pleased to announce the 2023 members of the WHS School Council. The Department of Education positions are occupied by new council members Daniel Pearce, David Child and Andre Bernardi. Joining our returning parent representatives, Kane Harnden, Jake Mansfield, Matt Clarkson, Natalie Goroncy and Emma Harris, is newly elected parent member Natalie Blurt. We also warmly welcome our newly elected student representative, Will Noonan from Year 12, who will work with Ethan Hammon from Year 9, who still has one year remaining on his tenure.

I would like to thank all parents, students and staff for engaging positively in the nomination process. We also welcome the student leaders and Parents and Friends member Elizabeth Cushion, who attend School Council meetings to provide reports from their associated teams.

I would like to acknowledge and congratulate Kane Harnden, who has been nominated and elected as our School Council president for this year. Matt Clarkson has accepted the role as vice president and Jake Mansfield will continue in the position as treasurer.

PFA

I would also like to thank the PFA for their ongoing support and recent fundraising efforts through the Bunnings sausage sizzle opportunity. Their continued donations to value add to curriculum equipment resourcing is much appreciated.

New School Jumper

As promised, our new school jumper is due to arrive at the end of this term ready for Term 2 and winter. A notification advising families the jumper has arrived and of uniform shop opening hours will be sent during the holiday period. I know our students are excitedly looking forward to this significant change in our uniform.

Improvements

By the time our students return for Term 2, we will have resurfaced the Bayview Campus basketball courts (as promised to the students at the end of last year following student lobbying) and a second school bus will have been delivered and ready to use - to reduce transport costs for families for certain activities.

Two new instrumental music pods will have been installed at Bayview to accommodate the significant growth in this program and the Pasco Campus toilet redevelopment will be halfway towards completion. We then have plans to upgrade the synthetic surface at Bayview and resurface one set of the basketball courts at Pasco. These are all significant investments in upgrading our facilities and ones that I am sure will be greatly appreciated by the students.

Creating an Inclusive Culture

Last year all students across both campuses completed a school-based respectful relationships survey. Through this survey students highlighted key work that was having a positive impact on creating an inclusive culture and also identified areas for improvement. The Student Engagement and Wellbeing Team has taken this feedback and developed an action plan that will be actioned throughout the year. Some of the student suggestions, including having more staff available during recess and lunch, have already been implemented.

Through this survey and the attitudes to school survey, our students have told us it has at times been frustrating to report incidents and, due to maintaining student privacy, they have not been aware of what has happened. We are taking this opportunity to firstly provide some education and clear expectations on appropriate behaviour, as well as consult with all stakeholders for increased transparency, of our processes.

Following the positive impact the consultation and development of our statement of inclusivity achieved last year, we are implementing a similar process to provide education and clarity around expectations and procedures for both students and staff in terms of responding to any incidents that may occur. The intent is to have visible displays so that when such incidents occur, there are clear guidelines for what the student is recommended to do and transparency around what the school will do in terms of process, always ensuring privacy is maintained.

The message of zero tolerance for inappropriate behaviour needs to be made clear together with the understanding that young people will occasionally have errors of judgement and display inappropriate behaviour. At all times we need to be timely and consistent with our response, maintain individual privacy and address the individual’s behaviour (not the individual), allowing an opportunity for learning, growth, support and a fresh start.

Curriculum Day

Our recent Curriculum Day saw staff come together to work collaboratively on two key areas: highly effective literacy strategies and further work on developmental assessments. With two literacy leaders now in place, one at each campus, staff learnt about high impact literacy strategies that can be implemented in all classrooms to refine the quality of students’ written responses.

Our work on developmental assessments focused on staff learning and engaging with “Compass clickable rubrics”. The aim here is to provide quality feedback to the students so that these tools assist in making clear to the students where they are at and what they need to do to move to the next level - increasing student agency in their individual learning journey. This is work we have been focused on in recent years but now, by using the Compass clickable rubrics feature, staff will have the option of providing this student feedback to parents to enhance the continuous reporting process.

Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club has been in full swing at the Pasco Campus with students introducing new themes throughout the term. At Bayview, we also saw new equipment rolled out in Week 9. This equipment was bought for both campuses through a recent grant. Please see below a tasting prepared by our wonderful students at a recent multicultural breakfast theme:

Principal’s Writing Competition

I am proud of the WHS Principal’s Writing Competition and look forward this year to reading our students’ interpretations of the theme “Destinations”, which has great potential to be explored in a variety of ways. The Principal’s Writing Competition highlights the importance of building and promoting literacy skills across the school, and all entrants will be judged using a set criteria assessing elements such as text structure and vocabulary, which underpin our current whole-school literacy focus.

This year we have an exciting range of prizes on offer. As well as the honour of having their names inscribed on the Principal’s Writing Competition honour board at their respective campus, winners will receive a host of exciting prizes including a tote bag filled with reading and writing gifts, an invitation to attend the Melbourne Writers Festival. This year we will once again have a Principal’s Pick, an overall major prize in the form of an iPad awarded to one student from each campus.

“The pen is mightier than the sword” is a powerful motto, and with great eagerness I look forward to reading the collection of poetry and prose that aim to prove this true.

Dear parents and carers

We are due to welcome 749 students to the Bayview Campus for the start of Term 2. We hope that our students will commence their first term break of this academic year feeling confident about their learning progress. During the break, we hope students reflect on their learning in Term 1 and plan ways to make further progress with their goals in Term 2. Page 11 and 12 in the Homegroup Student Resource are the spot for students to record their SMART Personal Learning Goals. Please speak with your child about their goals. We encourage all students and parents/carers to speak to their homegroup teacher about further support that may be required to achieve goals in Semester 1. Parent Teacher Student Conferences will allow this opportunity also.

Our school day commences at 8:50am and our grounds are supervised from 8:30am. Please encourage your child to arrive with sufficient time to access their locker and do what is required in readiness for the first two lessons. Our library opens at 8:20am daily and closes at 4:30pm. Please contact our engagement and wellbeing team - Alex Robinson, Christina Frei and Ann Hyland - if you are finding this to be a difficult time.

Our learning environment

Engagement with learning in class continues to be our focus. Our teachers have recently undertaken professional development in literacy and working with students to write appropriately with respect to the register continuum and also using Compass to share assessment feedback on the task rubric with you. Students have traditionally received these in hardcopy but we are now able to do this digitally. You may begin to see these assessment rubrics in Compass as teachers begin to use this means of communicating the information with you.

Our physical environment

Our original architects, Spowers, have been able to share with us a recent aerial photograph of our site (see below). We are ‘geographically privileged’ at Bayview with our proximity to our wonderful surrounds. With this lies increased responsibility, not just to respect our learning environment and workplace, but also where our litter will end up if not recycled or in a bin. The photograph illustrates this clearly.

We do not have a large fence that can prevent litter from leaving the grounds, and a number of members of the community have contacted us about litter being blown beyond our perimeter. Please provide ‘nude’ food for your child wherever possible. We are seeking student interest in establishing the Bayview Environment and Sustainability Team (BEST) so we can work on this further.

Teachers ‘on duty’ in the grounds before and after school and at breaks are now wearing their new, purple high-visibility vests. Students and visitors can clearly see which teacher is responsible at that time. While on duty, teachers will encourage all students to dispose of litter thoughtfully and may ask students to help improve our environment by picking up litter.

Our asphalt surface is being upgraded; this commenced on Monday of this week. This area is fenced and out of bounds. The gymnasium is open for students to use during the second half of lunch for the duration of this work. We hope this area will be ready for student use early next term, however, work is weather dependent.

Staff farewells and welcomes

We have two staff members due to take leave in Term 2, Hannah Erasmus and Warren Patterson. We are in the process of developing our timetable and assigning teachers to these classes. We are due to farewell Cory Duker at the end of this term, who has been the successful applicant of a position in another multicampus government school in Melbourne’s inner north west. We are due to confirm the new teacher of Cory’s classes shortly. We sincerely thank Cory for his work with us in the many roles he has held, notably as a teacher and leader in Mathematics.

We are currently in the Iuk Season of the annual Eastern Kulin Seasonal Calendar, as described by Woiwurrung traditions - Eel Season. This time of the year is evident at Bayview Street with temperatures cooling and iuk (eels) being ready to harvest. Our ‘piered’ wetland, visible in the aerial photograph, contains eels and students have been monitoring their growth and movement.

Kind regards

Karen Anderson

As the term draws to a close, it is time to pause for a breath and take some time over the holidays to refresh and recharge. The holiday period is an important period to make time to spend with family and friends and ensure everyone arrives back in Term 2 ready to take on the challenges of school and work.

Year 10 Work Experience

Congratulations to all 218 students who participated in the Year 10 Work Experience Program. I would like to acknowledge the work of families, students and our careers team that supported the placements. We strongly believe in the program and the valuable insight it gives Year 10 students on the ‘world of work’. It has been lovely hearing about the experiences our students enjoyed whilst out of school and going to ‘work’ for a week. It is another successful step taken in the journey towards their future.

Alumni Program

On Mondays and Wednesdays, from 3-5pm, ex-students who act as learning mentors are available in the Pasco campus library to support all students with their studies. We have a large range of content covered by the mentors and it has been pleasing to see so many students accessing this service this term.

Curriculum Area Leaders Conference

Curriculum area leaders were involved in a two-day conference recently where they completed a workshop on ‘Open to Learning Conversations’, with highly regarded presenter Chris Daicos. As a school we highly value the investment in our staff to continue to grow and develop professionally. Developing interpersonal communication capabilities was the key theme throughout and we aim to have Chris return later in the year to provide a follow-up session.

Please have a safe and enjoyable break and I will look forward to welcoming everyone back to the campus in Term 2.

Daniel Pearce

Pasco Campus Principal

STEM Club ‘rocketeering’ to success!

Our 2023 STEM Club is making rockets... Yes, that’s right! Each Monday after school the team members are developing their rocket launching skills with the help of ex-student Tamas Simonds. If the team is not busying themselves with the theoretical side in the Bayview library, they are experimenting - usually out in the wetlands - to make their equipment fly. In Term 2 we should have some real results to share about this, but in the meantime, we have a few snaps of the team engaging in some tests on the way towards their rocket work.

Driving Learning Program at the Grand Prix

Thanks to our partnership with the Wyndham Tech School, 50 of our students from Years 7-10 who have been involved in STEAM learning are getting a special behind-the-scenes look at the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park this year. The excursion, which was held on Friday, 31 March, aims to give students extra insight into the technology and running of the event. It is also very exciting that we can run a multi-year level excursion, and recognise the ongoing journey and interest in STEAM from our students at both campuses. Students will have the opportunity to learn from organisations such as BAE Systems, the British Consulate, the Australian Defence Force and more, while also having the chance to sit on the hill and watch the F1 cars (if our eyes can keep up). There are also several exhibits that will showcase the technology being incorporated into the event. We look forward to hearing reports about this great opportunity.

Tutoring program at Willi High

The government secondary school tutoring program aims to assist identified students with extra help to achieve their potential in their subjects, and WHS is an avid supporter of its aims. We are often on the lookout for individuals who can add value to our current program in the areas of literacy and numeracy. If you are a person, or know of a person, who may be interested in joining our tutor program to help enrich the learning experiences of our students and help them achieve, please get in touch with us. We are ideally searching for qualified teachers or pre-service teachers in their final year of learning for these roles, so if this is you or someone you know, please get in touch via the following email address: gavin.clifford@willihigh.vic.edu.au

Gavin Clifford | Strategic Assistant Principal

As we change our clocks and see the leaves begin to change around us, it can only mean that the first term holidays are upon us. To me it feels as if the year has barely started and I now need to get on top of my holiday plans. To all of our new families, I would like to welcome you to Williamstown High School.

The School Council is a body that assists the school and the principal to deliver strong governance and enhance the student experience for our children. Being part of the School Council is an extremely rewarding experience. This year’s council elections have just been held; if participating was not something you considered for this year, I strongly encourage you to think about being involved next year. From being on School Council, I have gained a greater understanding of the school's operations and the efforts the school team members go to help ensure that our children not only receive an education, but feel safe and connected.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the retiring members of School Council. Thank you to retiring parent councillors Meriel O’Sullivan and Ingrid Magtengaard. We also say goodbye to staff representatives Jesse Craig and Corey Duker. While Jesse remains at WHS, Corey is leaving WHS to work at a school closer to home. I’d like to thank each of you for your commitment during your terms. Continuing their terms are parent councillors Natalie Goroncy and Emma Harris, with student representative Ethan Hammon.

I’d like to acknowledge the ongoing commitment of parent representatives Matt Clarkson and Jake Mansfield, who have opted to remain on School Council for another term. Matt will be the council’s vice president and Jake will continue in the role of treasurer. We also welcome new parent councillor Natalie Burt. Our new staff councillors are Andre Bernardi and David Child, with Will Noonan joining as our student representative.

In addition to confirming new members, the most recent School Council meeting saw the tabling of the school’s 2022 Annual Report to the School Community.

Some key areas of the annual report measure parent satisfaction, achievement and student engagement. The result for WHS’s parent satisfaction survey is that 67.4% of parents agree or strongly agree that they are satisfied with the school. This is slightly unfavourable to the statewide average of 68.7%. Student wellbeing is measured by a sense of connectedness factor as reported in the Attitude to Schools Survey. The WHS result was 54.6%, which compares favourably to the state result of 48.1%. Both statewide and at WHS, the endorsement by students of the management of bullying has seen a decline. Both at WHS and indeed all schools a variety of strategies are being put in place to respond to this decline.

For academic performance the annual report discloses that 68.1% of WHS students in NAPLAN Year 9 reading are in the top three bands compared to similar schools’ average of 60.8%. Additionally, 98% of students successfully completed their VCE in 2022 with a mean study score of 32, versus similar schools with an average of 30.2. In 2022, 92% of WHS’s VCAL students completed successfully compared to 84% the previous year.

The full report will be uploaded to the school’s website and presented at a public meeting during Term 2. When the date is confirmed for the meeting, it will be advertised through Compass and posted on the website.

I wish everyone a wonderful and safe break over the holidays.

If you would like to get in contact with me, please do via kane.harnden@willihigh.vic.edu.au .

Kane Harnden, School Council President

Teaching & Learning Update

We have started this year with a re-focus on the Quality Teaching and Learning Practices at Williamstown High School and establishing Professional Learning Teams for 2023. PLTs are an opportunity for teachers to meet on a regular basis to collaborate and learn from one another with the goal of improving teaching and learning practices and student outcomes, in line with the Strategic Plan. Through the work of PLTs, teachers have been collaborating on the following initiatives:

• Embedding specific literacy skills across the curriculum

• Developing formative assessment tasks to measure student understanding

• Creating developmental assessment resources to enhance student agency

• Producing resources for new study designs to align with the SIMPLE Instructional Model

Grace Robertson, Matthew Grose & Bonnie Wong

• Teaching & Learning, Learning Specialists

Williamstown High School is excited to introduce Disability Inclusion, a new approach to help us improve support for students with disability and build a more inclusive school for all our students. Inclusive schools have better outcomes in learning, engagement and wellbeing for all students.

Disability Inclusion will help our school better understand what our students need to help them learn, through:

• a new funding model with more investment

• a new strength-based process called the Disability Inclusion Profile to help identify the student’s needs and required adjustments

• more training and coaching for teachers and school staff about the best ways to support student learning

A new funding model with more investment

The new funding model provides additional investment that our school can use to support many students, including those with autism, learning difficulties and more. This additional investment will provide more support for students with disability, including students who haven’t been eligible for individual funding through the Program for Students with Disabilities (PSD) in the past.

Our school can use this funding for a range of activities including:

• more training and professional development for teachers and school staff

• getting expert advice about disability

• hiring teachers or other staff to help plan and deliver changes for students

• equipment and resources to support learning

The Disability Inclusion Profile

The Disability Inclusion Profile will help us find out more about your child’s strengths and needs. It will inform personalised funding allocations, help us plan student learning and any changes a student may need to better learn. The new Disability Inclusion Profile process will replace the Educational Needs Questionnaire used as a part of the current PSD.

As we transition over the next three years, families of students who are part of the PSD will be asked to attend a meeting to complete a Disability Inclusion Profile. People who know your child will be involved in the meeting, along with an independent, trained facilitator who will help our school and families complete the profile.

If your child is part of the PSD, we will work with you to find the most suitable time to complete their profile. The profile will also be available to a broad group of students with high needs.

We will identify students who are not currently part of the PSD but may benefit from a Disability Inclusion Profile. If we consider that your child’s education will benefit from having a profile, we will contact you.

More training and coaching for teachers and school staff

Disability Inclusion will give more teachers and support staff a better understanding of disability and how to respond. This could include access to:

• more professionals who are experts in disability

• coaching

• professional learning

• evidence-based guidance and resources

• scholarships

More information

Visit www.education.vic.gov.au/disabilityinclusion to find out more about Disability Inclusion.

If you would like to talk about your child’s needs at school, or if you need translation or interpreting assistance, please contact Connie Messina at connie.messina@education.vic.gov.au

It was an exciting and action-packed second half of Term 1. The Year 7 students went to Camp Kangaroobie where they surfed, swam, square-danced and star-gazed. Kangaroobie is situated near Princetown along the Great Ocean Road. It is surrounded by picturesque rivers, hills and beaches. Students were able to enjoy new experiences and immerse themselves in the vibrant, natural environment of Kangaroobie. Most importantly, the students had fun, learned new skills and made new friends.

On behalf of the coordinators and the students, we would like to thank the many WHS staff members who took time out of their busy schedules to make camp the huge success it was. We would also like to thank the excellent staff at Kangaroobie for their amazing efforts.

We would also like to thank all of the families who responded to our request and donated board games to us. It was much appreciated.

Not long after returning from camp, the Year 7s enjoyed their first Athletics Carnival as Williamstown High students. They competed in their house teams in track and field events, and also in the bright colours worn to support either Blue, Red, Yellow or Green.

Students also had the opportunity to participate in our activities for International Women’s Day and, later in the term, Harmony Day. It was incredible to see students celebrating these important days and contributing to the positive and inclusive culture at Williamstown High School.

With the end of term fast approaching, students have completed their first round of CATs as well as NAPLAN, which has capped off an already busy term. The students are looking forward to a well-earned rest.

Overall, the students have enjoyed a positive and engaging start to their secondary school journeys with us at Williamstown High School. They have settled into our campus with ease and are making connections with their peers and staff. We are looking forward to what the rest of the year will bring.

Nicholas Madden and Isabella O’Malley

Year 7 Coordinators

How fast the term has gone by. Along with the learning experiences at school, our Year 8s have had the opportunity to take part in multiple extracurricular activities including:

• Whole cohort Humanities excursion to Kryal Castle.

• Challenge unit camp for Outdoor Education students.

• Interschool sports carnivals for tennis, volleyball, cricket and swimming.

Students are also receiving more information for the upcoming year-level camp at Roses Gap. This includes a student booklet with information about the camp and a medical form that needs to be completed by all individuals and returned to the school. Parents and carers can also access this information via the resources tab in the event on Compass.

We wish all students and families a restful term break and look forward to Term 2.

Carmen Wiseman and I would like to congratulate the Year 9 cohort on a positive start to 2023. Students have embraced the expectations of Year 9 and have applied themselves accordingly. Evidence of this has been the record number of Positive Acknowledgements posted for students on Compass throughout the term – something they have received praise for at fortnightly assemblies. The year level also completed their final ever set of NAPLAN tests, which I’m sure they are all very happy and relieved about.

International Women’s Day and Harmony Day have been two important campus events that have ignited celebration and awareness among our students. Some activities run by the student leaders to engage both students and staff included dance activities in the gym, badge making and a staff vs student soccer match, just to name a few.

9A and 9B Immersion classes this term delivered well-researched and engaging stalls to over 200 Year 7 and 8 students, introducing them to key issues that are influencing the world around us – close to home and abroad. These groups were able to further ‘Make A Difference’ through the introduction of the inaugural Immersion Camp, where students took part in some key community service activities (FareShare kitchen – cooking meals for Victoria’s homeless community; and the Salvos Youth Homelessness Tour – broadening their understanding of the challenges facing many youth in and around Melbourne). Students were also treated to a range of fun, social activities and educational tours, with a great time had by all. 9C, 9D and 9E are next up in Term 2!

I look forward to the final week of Term 1, where our students and staff get the opportunity to celebrate student and school achievement at the end-of-term Celebration Assembly – an event coordinated and run by our wonderful and hardworking student leaders.

Wishing everyone in the Williamstown High School community a safe and happy Easter break.

Tyson Hartwig & Carmen Wiseman | Year 9 Coordinators

The second half of Term 1 has provided many new opportunities and challenges for the Year 10 cohort with a big highlight being our Year 10s completing the Work Experience Program.

The students were busy in Week 8 trying their hand in numerous industries and workplace environments. It was pleasing to see during our workplace visits that so many students were engaging with their work and gaining valuable insight into possible future careers and pathway opportunities.

Some of the workplace experiences included appraising houses in real estate, farming local produce for market and swimming with dolphins on ocean tours. It was fantastic to see so many of our students trying something new and experiencing the workforce. Upon returning to school many students came back with a drive, knowing they had found a potential future career, whilst others came back knowing that job was not what they saw themselves doing in the future, which is a large part of the learning experience.

With a fast paced end to the term the students have been busy completing CATs and engaging in all of their elective and core subject studies.

We look forward to another busy term for our Year 10s with the MAPSS program beginning Thursday of Week 1, and then we will turn our attention to our end-of-semester exams, continuing to revise and practise different study techniques in preparation for this.

We encourage all of our Year 10 students to enjoy their break and to take some much-needed rest. We have enjoyed every moment getting to watch our Year 10s become part of the Pasco school community.

Term 1 has continued at a rapid pace, and with assessment tasks in the VCE and VCE-VM having started, it is important students lay the foundation for productive study habits that achieve a balance between academic demands and commitments outside of school. This was explored during a recent ‘Study Sensei’ workshop presented by Elevate Education on Thursday, 16 March.

The Athletics Carnival on Thursday, 2 March, was a fantastic day, where the weather was excellent and students had the opportunity to compete against each other for house points in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere.

A number of other recent events that have taken place across Year 11 include: the second session of the Multimodal Approach to Preventing Suicide in Schools (MAPSS); International Women’s Day activities; a Clean-Up Australia Day litter pick; Harmony Day activities; and fundraisers for the Leaukemia Foundation through the World’s Greatest Shave, and the West Welcome Wagon through a casual dress day.

A new initiative in Year 11 in 2023 is the election of homegroup representatives. These representatives will play an integral role in giving agency to a stronger student voice, meeting regularly and working with the Year Level Coordinators to help direct and provide feedback on programs and initiatives. Congratulations to the following students who were elected by their peers:

11L’s homegroup representative, Andrea Vaquero, reflected that she is very happy to be elected “It gives me the opportunity to assist and guide my peers during the start of the VCE and VCE-VM journey,” she said.

We wish you a relaxing and enjoyable Easter break, and look forward to welcoming your child back to school in two weeks time refreshed to approach Term 2.

One term in and we are well and truly into this Year 12 marathon. Similar to the real thing, there have already been a number of ups and downs for the cohort along our journey. When we returned from camp early in Week 4 there was an infectious feeling of positivity within the Study Centre. It was evident the Year 12 cohort had truly galvanised into a team.

This spirit flowed into the school’s Athletics Carnival, where the Year 12 team went above and beyond with their costumes. Special mentions go to Gryff Walker, Owen Cooke and Josh Goodall, who dressed up as air stewards and a pilot respectively. All in all it was a great day for the students to get away from their studies and create some memorable photos, which we will be able to look back on fondly at graduation.

That positive atmosphere that filled the Study Centre quickly shifted though as the first school assessments drew closer. You could feel the stress within the school. We were quick to remind the Year 12s that this was all part of the experience. It was pleasing to see so many students assisting each other during this time, showing that our message of the importance of teamwork had well and truly been heard.

To support the students with managing the assessment stress, we explored the topic in our homegroup curriculum. This involved introducing the students to the “Stress Bucket”. The Stress Bucket is an analogy we use to help students understand the different stresses they may experience, stresses that fill up like water in their buckets. More importantly, however, it is used to learn new positive coping strategies that can be implemented to help remove some of that water and prevent their bucket from overflowing.

As Term 1 closes it is important that the Year 12s take some time away to recharge their batteries and remove some of the water from their buckets. However, it is important to remind them to not completely shut off as we all know how difficult it can be to get started again.

Year 12 Team,

Angus Rodda & David Urwin

2023 NAPLAN

Well done to our Year 7 and Year 9 students who recently completed the online NAPLAN - the National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy. According to ACARA, the online adaptive testing, where the test questions present as more or less difficult depending on student responses, allows for a wider range of student abilities to be assessed and therefore measures student achievement more precisely. A NAPLAN individual student report will be provided to parents and carers later in the school year.

PRINCIPAL’S WRITING COMPETITION

The Principal’s Writing Competition will be officially launched in Term 2. This year our theme is ‘Destinations’. Stay tuned for more details. Congratulations to Claire Leibel (8B), Violet Mc Curley (11C) and Alyssa Cunanan (12A) as winners of the poster competition for the event. We are sure these wonderful posters will inspire student writers from both campuses to celebrate their skills and talents through the medium of writing and illustration.

Term 1 has been an exciting time for Team Science this year. As the students across the campus have started their science subjects, there has been a lot of practical learning and excursions to help complement all of the classroom teaching. Our students have been hard at work and should be commended for their effort and eagerness to learn.

VCE Environmental Science has also begun at Williamstown High School this year, with many students excitedly learning Unit 1 this semester. Currently Environmental Science has covered the topics of local ecosystems, conducting practical work into the effect abiotic factors have on the biotic components, as well investigating food webs, biomass pyramids and more. After this students will move onto looking at the Earth’s four systems, how they interact with each other, as well as how those systems change over time. We’re excited to be offering Environmental Science at Williamstown High this year, and looking forward to seeing the subject continue to grow.

Here’s a first hand account from our Physics team on an event that occurred this term:

On Friday, 10 May, Year 12 Physics students enjoyed a day at Luna Park to experience first hand various forms of motion and forces on the body that had been discussed in class. Of course, it was also a great day just to have some fun, hang out with classmates and maybe have an in-depth physics convo with students from other schools.

This was the first time Willi High attended the organised event, which was specifically run for VCE Physics students. Everyone on the day had lots of fun and it was well worth the time spent away from the classroom. This will be a regular feature of the VCE Physics program.

Dave Child (Year 12 Physics) & Karen Moutray-Read (Year 11 Physics)

How many eggs?

Credit - https://nrich.maths.org/

Wow! What a whirlwind start to 2023; it’s hard to believe we are nearing the end of Term 1 already. There are so many great things happening in and around the school and I can definitely say that this is also the case for our Mathematics learning area. The Year 9s have been diving into the depths of algebra by solving linear equations; the Year 8s are now climbing their way through the topic of linear graphing; and our Year 7s are carrying out some excellent work on statistics.

We would like to welcome some new faces to our fantastic Mathematics team: Oliver Graham, Emma Huang and Nahtasha Nelson-Miriklis to the teaching profession.

Our continual focus as a Mathematics team is to regularly reflect, improve and update our work programs, assessments and resources. There has already been lots of time and effort from across the team that has gone into creating more engaging and effective resources, as well as more rigorous assessment so far in 2023. This is all focused on creating a better learning experience for students and improving student growth in our learning area.

The Cambridge textbook is a resource that is widely used within our classrooms and we are encouraging all students to activate their online code. This will provide your child with access to an online interactive textbook with additional interactive features plus a PDF textbook that can be downloaded for offline use. Instructions are found on the inside cover of the textbook. However, please speak to your child’s teacher if you are experiencing any difficulties. Also, here is a link to accessing your digital resource.

Mathspace is an online mathematics program designed for secondary students and another resource used extensively by our teachers with our students. The ‘skills check-ins’ have the ability to track student gaps and growth thereby providing specific and targeted questions to improve student achievement. These check-ins are five short questions and can easily be completed regularly at home.

Recently 11 students (listed below) from Years 8 and 9 participated in the Kangourou Sans Frontieres (KSF) Mathematics Competition. These students were selected based on their results from the 2022 Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC). The KSF is now the largest mathematics competition in the world, with more than 6,000,000 participants each year. Held in March, the KSF is a great opportunity for students to experience mathematics in a competition environment prior to the AMC in August. This is the first year the KSF has been held at Williamstown High School and we would like to thank Mr Bangun for organising and supervising this event. We hope to receive the results soon and share these with our students.

PS - The first Bayview student to email me at felicity.christmass@willihigh.vic.edu.au with the correct answer to “How many eggs?” above will win themselves a prize!

Felicity Christmass

Bayview Mathematics Team Leader

What a fantastic beginning of the year for our Language Department! We are now counting more students choosing languages as one of their preferred electives and we had the pleasure to bring our students to the French and Indonesian Film Festivals during the term.

As teachers, we have also focused on smoothing the transition for our students from Bayview to Pasco. Here is a quick snapshot of what has been happening in our classes:

Year 7 is always an exciting time to teach students that are discovering a new language. This term, our Indonesian and French classes revolve around language awareness. Students are also learning how to introduce themselves in the target language, participating in role-plays and speed dating. We are also busily investigating the culture of each country.

Year 8 French students are learning about the French high school system and will design their dream school. Year 8 Indonesian students dive into the topic of family, where they will create and illustrate a photo album to describe their family members and pets.

Year 9 French is exploring the topic of Town and Transport. This time around, students are learning to write a text in French. Year 9 Indonesian delves into the topic of Sport and Entertainment.

Year 10 and VCE students are immersing themselves into topics relating to their personal world and the world around them. Both Indonesian and French students also had the opportunity to go watch a movie in the city during this term in order to immerse themselves in the language and culture. Students really enjoyed this experience and we cannot wait to bring them on another excursion in the future.

The Language Department is excited to share with students a new year of cultural exchange and language speaking. À très bientôt, sampai jumpa lagi!

Williamstown High School: Term 1 Sport Pasco Campus

The school sporting calendar has been very busy this term with the following sports taking place:

WHS Swimming Carnival: Congratulations to the following students who competed and advanced through to the Hobsons Bay Division and Western Metropolitan Region competitions.

• Heath Corry: 100m Backstroke, 50m Butterfly, 50m Freestyle, Freestyle & Medley Relay

• Oliver Devine: 50m Backstroke, Freestyle & Medley Relay

• Jackson Kelly: 50m Breastroke, Freestyle & Medley Relay

• Hunter Mace: Freestyle & Medley Relay

• Blake Dosser: Freestyle & Medley Relay

• Ezra Hope: Freestyle & Medley Relay

Congratulations goes to Red House for winning this year’s Swimming Carnival.

WHS Athletics Carnival: Congratulations to all participants but especially to Aydin Metin and Dashiell Muir.

• Aydin broke the record in the Year 10 Male Long Jump, jumping a massive 6.42m.

• Dash broke the record in the Year 10 Male 100m, with a time of 11 seconds.

Congratulations also goes to Red House for winning this year’s Athletics Carnival.

Senior and Intermediate Interschool Sport: Congratulations to the following teams on their efforts during the term:

• Senior Boys Tennis: Runner-up

• Senior Girls Volleyball: Runner-up

Term 2 Interschool Sports

This competition commences early on in the term with the sports listed below on offer. Parents need to pay and consent first on Compass in order for their child to be involved in the competitions.

• Cross-Country

• AFL

• Soccer

• Netball

• Badminton

Spotlight on WHS Music Students

Our current and former students have been involved in a range of fantastic achievements in the month of March. A big congratulations to the following students on their great work:

Violet Mccurley (Year 11) was selected to perform as a featured soloist at ‘The Edge’, Federation Square, for the 2023 Western Chances Awards Ceremony. Western Chances is an initiative that assists young people to reach their potential. Violet performed for fellow scholarship winners and Western Chances affiliates, receiving a wonderful reception.

Excelsior Madden (Year 11) was the recipient of a studio production prize worth $2500, awarded by Soundstep Studios. Sponsored by Hobsons Bay City Council, the prize is part of the ‘Make It Happen Initiative’, supporting young local artists. This help enabled Excelsior to record an original song and film clip with a team of industry professionals. The song has been released on Spotify and will be a part of an EP released by Soundstep Studios.

Paolo Coladonato (Class of 2022) performed at the Melbourne Recital Centre as part of Top Class, a concert featuring selected outstanding VCE Music students. Paolo performed a drum kit piece from his 2022 Music Investigation exam repertoire, with current WHS music students and staff in attendance.

Congratulations to former student Matthew Cameron (Class of 2022), who presented his Top Class drama studies solo performance of the character The Kookaburra, at Malthouse Theatre on Friday, 17 March.

Top Class is part of the VCE Season of Excellence managed by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. Top Class presents 12 concerts by outstanding VCE performing arts students who have completed VCE and VET Dance, VCE Drama, Theatre Studies, Music Performance, Music Investigation, Music Style and Composition, and VCE and VET Music Industry. Performances are compèred by the chief assessors for performance studies.

We congratulate Matthew on his outstanding achievement.

Photo is taken of Matthew Cameron outside the Drama Studies solo performance examination at the Phoenix Centre in Footscray in October 2022.

Next meeting – Tuesday, 16 May, 7:30pm – online

Guest speaker – TBC – details via Compass notification

The PFA held its AGM on 21 March. Your 2023 office bearers and committee members can be found on the PFA page of the school website.

Bunnings sausage sizzle fundraiser

Thanks to members of the school community who volunteered at our fundraising Bunnings sausage sizzle on March 5. We raised nearly $1400, which will go towards funding extra resources for WHS students, such as the following events/resources:

School leadership conference

“Just a quick email to say a big thank you to the PFA for funding the attendance of our school captains at the Melbourne Youth Leadership Conference last week. It was a rewarding experience for all student leaders that attended, and they have walked away with some additional skills, insight and inspiration.” - Amy Curran, Student Leadership Coordinator​

Aquarium upgrade

“They are here!!! There is so much excitement around the new tanks and the new inhabitants. It’s great to be asked about it by so many students who are interested in the project. The filtration is currently being installed. I hope that it is running by the end of term. Thanks so much for making it possible.” - Garrett Drago, Marine Science Centre Manager

Please join us at our next meeting on May 16, which will be held online. The guest speaker is yet to be confirmed - details will be sent via Compass, or email us at presidentwhspfa@gmail.com to receive PFA updates.