MWSC College News – Issue 10

I had the privilege of attending our college production, ‘Matilda’ the musical, this week which was held in our college theatrette. The production team have been working hard so it was wonderful to see their performance come to fruition. Thank you to Mr Tom Frost, College Production Director for all his hard work and dedication to our students over the last 6 months and Mrs Nicole Griffin in charge of Costumes, Props and Sets who worked with a brilliant crew of students to support our cast.

The production band under the baton of Musical Director Mrs Tijtje Keatley performed exceptionally and was made up of staff, alumni and students. It was wonderful to hear live music again in a theatre. Thank you also to alumni, Monique and Chana who gave up their time to come and choreograph our students over many rehearsal sessions.

The cast and crew were magnificent, and the quality of performances were extremely high. What a talented team of students, alumni and staff we have at Mount Waverley Secondary College!

Congratulations to the lead and ensemble roles:

Thank you to our production parents who volunteered to help with tea, coffee and plates of food for members of the audience to enjoy at intermission. Well done to Mrs Linda Westgarth and Mrs Trish Munday for overseeing the organisation of this fundraising event. Special thanks go to Mrs Narda McLennan our Marketing and Events Manager who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to support this show and all of the other staff and students who helped contribute to this great event.

$35 Million Election Promise 

On the first day of term, Monday 11 July, the Leader of the opposition Mr Mathew Guy and Liberal Candidate for Ashwood Mr Asher Judah came to visit our college and promised $35 Million for the rebuild of our Senior campus. Mr Judah said, “the significant investment will deliver better facilities for students and the local community at Mount Waverley Secondary College.”

 State Cross Country

On Thursday 14 July, 6 students headed back to the Yarra Glen racetrack to participate in this year’s State Cross Country. The results were amazing.  Izak B of Year 11 came 4^th in the open event, running his 5km race in the incredible time of 16 minutes and 8 seconds. Izak’s brother Noah, was joined by Aaron C, Hayden V, Andrew D and Tharul H in the Year 8 event. All boys finished in the top 35 and combined to take out the state championship in the team event. It was a great effort by the boys who have run so well at the various stages over the past months. We could not be prouder of our runners! Thanks to Mr Danny Gwynne, Sports Leader for his support and for driving the team there on the day.

VCE Student Parent Teacher Conferences

On Thursday 14 July, VCE parent /teacher/ student conferences were held. The conferences focused on providing further feedback as to what the student needs to do to complete their VCE subjects to the best of their ability. Thank you to all the staff, students and parents who attended.

Premier’s VCE Awards
Mount Waverley Secondary College Win Top Honours

Mrs Julie Cain-Senior Campus Principal and I attended the Premier’s VCE Awards on Wednesday 20 July which was held at the Melbourne Convention Centre. Congratulations to Rachel Tan, Chris Rozakeas and Nora Bartol (Year 11) who have been recognised with a Premier’s VCE Award for their outstanding academic results in 2021.

Rachel who was our college Dux in 2021 scored a perfect ATAR of 99.95 and was one of 28 students across the State who received a Premier’s VCE Award for being a Top All-Round VCE High Achiever. This award is presented to students who achieved outstanding results in five or more of their subjects. Rachel also received Study Awards in English Language, Further Mathematics and Japanese Second Language.

Chris received two Study Awards for Music Performance and Philosophy and Nora who is currently in Year 12 was recognised with a Study Award for Hungarian which she studied at the Victorian School of Languages.

The annual Premier’s VCE Awards recognise the top-performing students in the state. This year, 298 students across 90 subjects were recognised with awards for their outstanding results.

The entire Mount Waverley Secondary College community is proud of our students and would like to congratulate them on being the recipients of such a prestigious award.

Rachel is currently studying Radiography and medical Imaging (Honours) at Monash University and Chris is currently studying a Science/Music degree at Monash University.  We wish them every success.

To view the full Honour Roll and to read more about the Premier’s VCE Awards, visit: https://www.vic.gov.au/premiers-vce-awards

House Athletics

Over 700 students attended the House Athletics at the Knox Athletics track on Friday 22 July. I had the pleasure of visiting on the day and watching our students compete in various events. Well done to Mr Danny Gwynne and Mr Jay Newport our Sports Leaders for their great work in organising this whole school event.  Thank you to all the staff who helped make this day a success for our students.  We now look forward to District Athletics later in the term.

College Policies

College Policies are regularly updated and placed on the college website for your perusal. You can find them on the website under Parents-College Documents and Policies-Policies.

The Australian Business and Community Network (ABCN) Accelerate Scholarship program

Applications are open for a scholarship supporting Year 10 students facing economic, family or social challenges that impact their studies or capacity to achieve their tertiary pathway. The Australian Business and Community Network (ABCN) Accelerate Scholarship program provides students with a dedicated corporate mentor and financial support.

This includes time with the mentor to help set goals and develop valuable workplace skills and $7,000 in financial assistance, for school expenses, over 3 years.

Eligibility requirements

All Year 10 students who are Australian citizens or permanent residents are eligible to apply.

Students must also meet 2 out of the 3 categories to be eligible:

1. demonstrated academic commitment and high engagement
2. demonstrated responsibility and organisation as a leader at school or in extra-curricular activities
3. demonstrated commitment and dedication to community service and sports, including to others in need, to their extended family unit or sporting team.

How to apply

Interested students should speak to their teacher about the application process and their eligibility.

As part of the application, students must submit a short essay addressing ‘the difference this ABCN scholarship will make to my life and the community around me’, and include the following responses:

• the benefits of having a mentor
• what the student would use the scholarship funds for
• the impact they would have in their community.

The application must be submitted by the principal on behalf of the student.
Applications close Friday 19 August 2022.
Scholarship recipients will be informed in late October 2022.

Ritchies have some exciting news to share, they have a new look Ritchies card and App with new features & exciting offers. Please note from 20 July all members will be required to log into their account at https://loyalty.ritchies.com.au to update their account.  Ritchies App users will receive an update notification – simply update your app and complete the required fields.

Mrs Karen Wade
College Principal

Staff and students at the Junior Campus have certainly hit the ground running in term three. Already in the first two weeks, students have been involved in a number of activities outside the classroom, as well as making the transition into semester two.

Year 7

Our year 7 students have started their swimming program in PE, which takes them out once a week to Monash Aquatic Centre (or Clayton, for some groups) to undertake some intensive lessons. This is an important part of the curriculum, and it’s great to welcome it back in 2022. In the latter part of the term they will also be heading out for the gymnastics component of the course. Year 7s also had a session with the Reach Foundation in week one. These sessions focused on empathy, and the support of authentic, positive expression. These sessions work alongside the Student Wellbeing Model and the various early intervention programs designed to support our students.

Year 8

Our year 8s have also been very busy. Their PE classes are working through a very engaging self-defence unit. Following this, they will also be heading off-campus, to Bounce in Blackburn. Again, this program is highly engaging and a great way to learn new skills in a purpose-built environment. Some of our year 8 leaders also had the opportunity to visit Mount Waverley Primary School this week, in order to talk about leadership approaches in schools. In coming weeks, our year 8s also start the process of preparing for their transition to the senior campus. Firstly, there will be an information evening on 28 July, after which the process for subject selections will begin.

Across the Campus

Beyond these programs, students in both year levels have participated in a number of other activities. This includes the college production, which is a wonderful opportunity to collaborate across campuses, as well as a handful of students participating in focus groups for the college’s current review process. We have had students participating in a range of sporting events, including the year 8 boys who were crowned the state cross-country champions at Yarra Glen last week, and our annual House Athletics carnival. On top of that, we look forward to a bumper term filled with all manner of sporting opportunities.

Personal Best Program

The 2022 Personal Best Program is now up and running. Students were introduced to the concept, and the program, during assembly and home group last week. They have since been working, through home group sessions, on identifying their personal strengths, and considering the various effective Habits of Mind traits that they possess. They will soon begin to focus on their own personal goal for the semester, culminating in presentations in October. We would encourage families to start talking to their year 8 children about what this program entails.

Mr Matt Sheehan
Campus Principal – Junior School

Welcome back to Term 3

Welcome back to all students and parents for Term 3.  This term always proves to be a busy term with sport, excursions and production to name a few of the things that will be happening across this term in the middle school.  Our Year 10 students will be heading of camp which will provide a range of new and different experiences.  Students in both Year 9 and 10 will starting to look towards next year with the subject selection process also happening this term.  As always it will be a busy term both inside and outside the classroom for students.

Holiday Works

Across the holiday period the ICT and Facilities Teams were busy improving the college.

The ICT Works undertaken included:

• Data points upgrades
• Server maintenance
• Projector maintenance
• Reimaging computers
• Firewall migration to our new system
• Checking all Backups
• Support Musical rehearsals including AV Set Up for production

The Facilities Team work hard across the break with the focus on changing filters in Air Purifiers and getting another 100 or so units out across the college.  Yes, you read right over 100 air purifiers!

Some of the other work included:

• Vertical garden maintenance
• Graffiti removal – Junior Toilets
• Fire Services audit across the college
• JC Hall waterproofing
• Air Conditioner Replacement on Senior Campus in S3 and A3
• SC Library Windows painted
• SC Hall Kitchen Hot Water Update

Thanks to the ICT and Facilities Teams for their work across the break.

STEAM Centre

Work on the STEAM Centre has started, with foundations being laid this week.  This will continue across coming week.  Once the foundations are laid we will see further work happen in the coming weeks.

JC Ovals and SC Courts Upgrade

The project is currently in the tender process.  With tenders closing late next week – we are definitely making progress.  If everything goes to plan we should see work commencing towards the end of Term 3 or start of Term 4.

Year 9 Science

Last week in 9D & 9K Science our students have been learning about the Nervous System and Neurons. They were tasked with creating 3D models of Neurons with labels and explanations to help their peers learn, using common craft items. Students’ creativity shone through as they all had different approaches and demonstrated their learning.  ~ Ms Grace Leszczynski

Mr Ian MacLeod
Campus Principal – Middle School

2023 Subject Handbooks

All of the 2023 college handbooks (Years 7&8, Year 9, Year 10 and VCE) are now on the college website. We encourage all families to look at the relevant handbook/s. They contain advice on the subschool, curriculum and programs at that year level as well as specific descriptions and advice about the subjects on offer. The VCE Handbook is detailed and also contains information on the new Senior Certificate (VCE) Vocational Major pathway.

VCE Parent Teacher Conferences

The college held parent teacher conferences last Thursday after school via WebEx. The interviews provided parents/carers and students with the opportunity to discuss the end of semester reports and to receive feedback to assist in term three and for the rest of the year. The conferences are very useful for students, particularly those completing  a Unit 3 & 4 (Year 12) subject as they complete their internal assessment by the end of this term.

Thanks to the parents and students who participated and to the VCE teachers who conducted the interviews at the end of their teaching day.

Any parent/ carer who was not able to speak to a teacher (due to staff illness) will be contacted by the teacher or can email the teacher through Compass.

Subject Information Evenings, 2023 Subject Selection & Future Options Day

During next week students will be participating in a range of activities and programs to support their subject and course selections for 2023 which will be made in the next few weeks. Programs for students will either run onsite.

Information Evenings will run virtually and details about the evening will available on Compass for each year level. Please continue to check Compass for notifications about program, links to virtual information evenings and session details and email the relevant subschool if there are any questions or concerns.

Thanks to the subschool teams, Heads of School, the Teaching and Learning team and subject teachers for all their work in preparing for the events.

Senior Certificate – Vocational Major

In 2023 the college will be offering the Vocational Major Pathway as part of the VCE to Year 10 (2022) students. It is an exciting new program and information is included in the VCE Handbook and will be outlined at the VCE Information Evening on Tuesday 26 July and at a special Vocational Major Information Evening (in person in the theatrette) on Wednesday 27 July. Information will be communicated through Compass.

Year 10 to Year 11 Subject Selection/ Course Counselling

On Friday 5 August all Year 10 students will be involved in course and subject selection interviews. Please check Compass for updated information on the structure of the day or contact Sarah Chase, Head of Senior School (chs@mwsc.vic.edu.au ), if you have any questions.

Mrs Julie Cain
Campus Principal – Senior School

Mount Waverley Primary School (MWPS) – Community Action Project

On Monday 30 May, a group of Year 11 and 12 student leaders attended Mount Waverley Primary School for a leadership forum. The year 11 and 12 leaders spoke about their experiences with student leadership and gave advice to the year 6 leaders at MWPS.  After the Q&A session the Year 11 and 12 leaders broke off into smaller groups with the year 6 leaders to brainstorm ideas for a community action project that can be developed throughout the year. The students had a great time, and it was fantastic to see them working with younger leaders. Some of the students were very excited and lucky enough to meet their old primary school teachers after many years away from MWPS. This was a great initiative, and we look forward to returning to MWPS with our year 8 leaders for an information session with the Year 5 leaders and continuing our work on a community action project.

Mount Waverley North Primary School (MWNPS) – Mini Mount Matters

On Wednesday 22 June, a group of five student leaders attended two ‘Mini Mount Matters’ at Mount Waverley North Primary School. The leaders sat in and observed grade 3-6 and Prep-2 students focus group sessions. The students were very excited to return to their old primary school and were very impressed with how the program is running at MWNPS, especially their work around ‘what makes a good learner’ and ‘what makes a good teacher’. The school is looking forward to hosting some MWNPS students at a Mount Matters session later this year.

Parliament House Tour

On Tuesday 21 June,  College Captains, Azraf E and Charlotte W were invited to Parliament House for a meet and greet with the local member for the Victorian Legislative Council, Hon Bruce Atkinson. After a Q&A session with Mr Atkinson and other members of the Victorian Liberal Party, Azraf and Charlotte were taken on a tour of Parliament House by Matthew Bach MP.  Both Azraf and Charlotte enjoyed this wonderful experience to get a personalised tour of Parliament House and to network with other school captains, as well as current members of the Victorian Parliament.

Mr Jacob Myers
Acting Head of Student Voice

One VCE Many Talents –
VCE Vocational Major Information Evening 27 July

As you know, we will be moving to a new integrated senior secondary certificate in 2023 with the introduction of the new VCE Vocational Major. This two-year vocational and applied learning program within the VCE will equip students with the skills, knowledge, and confidence they need for the world of work. It will also prepare them to transition into apprenticeships, traineeships, further education and training, or university via non-ATAR pathways.

The applied learning focus provides students with the opportunity to concentrate on their future through real world learning contexts, this may involve learning in a classroom, in the workplace, and in the community.

To find out more about the new VCE Vocational Major please click on this link.
**The VCE Vocational Major is only being offered to our 2023 Year 11 cohort (current year 10 students) and will be available to year 12 students in 2024.

To provide students, and families with a detailed overview of this new component of the VCE certificate the college is running an information session at the senior campus on Wednesday 27 July at 7pm in the Theatrette. There will be time available after the session to ask staff questions related to your child’s specific pathway.

Please register your interest in attending this event using the following form.

Please also find additional resources provided by the Department of Education including the “2023 Where to Now” guide for year 10 students on the VCAA website.

If you have any questions about this event please contact me on mck@mwsc.vic.edu.au.
We look forward to meeting with you to discuss this exciting new opportunity.

Ms Lisa McKiernan
Head of Senior Pathways

Welcome back to Semester Two

This Semester will be a very busy one for the Senior Campus with many exciting events occurring throughout Years 9 – 12.

The first of these events are our Pathway and Subject Information Days and Evenings.  These events are crucial to students gaining an in-depth understanding of their future options and as such attendance is strongly encouraged.

Please find below a list of when each of these events is occurring and details of how to attend.

Year 10 Future Options and Tertiary Expo Day – Tuesday 26 July

This event will occur for the entirety of the day.  All year 10 classes will be canceled, however, it is still considered a normal school day and attendance is required.  Students will be presented with information on VCE Pathways, Subject Information and External tertiary providers will also be presenting to students.

Year 11 2023 Information Night  – Tuesday 26 July at 7.00pm

This will be a virtual event for our current Year 10 parents and students to get additional information on the subject selection process and an introduction to the new structure to the Victorian Senior Certificate options of VCE and VCE Vocational Major. There will be an opportunity for students and parents to speak with Faculty Heads and other subject teachers regarding specific subjects:

Please join the event using this link:  https://eduvic.webex.com/eduvic/onstage/g.php?MTID=e83bf8024256a7fc67a1e19506cda8474

Year 12 2023 Information Night – Tuesday 26 July at 7.45pm

This will be a virtual event for our current Year 11 parents and students to get additional information on the subject selection process. There will be an opportunity for students and parents to speak with Faculty Heads and other subject teachers regarding specific subjects:

Please join the event using this link: https://eduvic.webex.com/eduvic/onstage/g.php?MTID=e83bf8024256a7fc67a1e19506cda8474

Year 9 2023 Information Night – Thursday 28 July at 6.30pm

This will be a virtual event for our current Year 8 parents and students to get additional information on the subject selection process.  There will be an opportunity for families to speak to Faculty heads regarding subjects.

Please join the event using this link:  https://eduvic.webex.com/eduvic/j.php?MTID=m4be2a32900bcedd4c7eb7a6cb1ec8dda

Year 10 2023 Information Night – Thursday 28 July at 7.00pm

This will be a virtual event for our current Year 9 parents and students to get additional information on the subject selection process.  There will be an opportunity for families to speak to Faculty heads regarding subjects.

Please join the event using this link:  https://eduvic.webex.com/eduvic/j.php?MTID=mf372e87a7bb7bb975691493a58f2f185

Year 11 2023 Individual Course Selection Interviews – Friday 5 August

Each of the current Year 10 students will meet with a member of staff to discuss their educational pathway for Year 11 and desired career direction and how these can be achieved via their subject selections ensuring any prerequisites are considered. Students will submit their subject preferences during their designated interview time. Students will be emailed out their appointment time prior to the day.

Please note that the links to the Webex rooms where the Faculty Head and other subject specific staff members will be available to answer questions will be made available closer to the dates of the events.

Year 7

REACH Workshop – During week 1 of term 3, the year 7’s attended a workshop run by REACH. The workshop focused on helping students feel connected, encouraging empathy and support of authentic and positive expression.

Year 8

Life Choices – On Wednesday 14 September the year 8’s will receive a presentation from race car driver Andrew Fisher. The focus of the talk is to challenge students to stop and think through the consequences of the significant choices in their lives. It encourages them to choose the right path for them.

Year 9

REACH workshop – On Thursday 28 July, the year 9’s will attend a workshop run by REACH focusing on peer dynamics- helping students to have respect, empathy and awareness for each other.

Year 10

On Friday 12 August, the year 10’s will attend a presentation on the power of sleep by Mr Brad Felstead. The presentation will cover the academic benefits to getting the required amount of sleep.

Year 11

On Monday 22 August,the year 11’s will attend a presentation from Australian race walker and Commonwealth Games gold medalist, Ms Jemima Montag.  Jemima will share her amazing journey and what she learned along the way to be a successful student and athlete. Jemima recently finished 4th in the World Championships which is a massive achievement and will be racing in the upcoming Commonwealth Games hoping to get Gold.

Year 12

On Monday 18 July, year 12 students attended a presentation from Australian comedian, Mr Declan Fay. Declan shared what he learned in high school and what has led him to be one of Australia’s most successful comedy writers. He challenged the students to take every opportunity in front of them, work hard and have no regrets.

Mr Paul Graham
Student Support and Resources Manager

Welcome to Term 3, the Careers team work very closely with Year 12 students across this term, with a strong focus on VTAC and career goals for 2023. Many students have met with the careers team to discuss their career pathways and commence the preparation process for their end of year transition to Uni, work, Trades etc.

Students interested in pursuing a University pathway should be registering for upcoming Open days to learn more about the course and Universities of choice. The below link provides valuable information, as we move through the VTAC process information will be added to ensure students have the information to make an informed decision.

https://sites.google.com/mwsc.vic.edu.au/careers/senior-school/vtac-2022

Subject selections for Year 9-11 will be supported by the careers team, it is strongly recommended that you make an appointment with Careers if you have any questions in relation to the career pathways  available to you. Students interested in studying a VET subject in Year 11 must meet with the Careers Team to ensure they are eligible and this is the best fit for them.
Please email careers@mwsc.vic.edu.au to secure an appointment.

Ms Joanne Hall
Careers Education Manager

Monthly Newsletter

Welcome to July’s issue of Mount Waverley Secondary College Alumni Monthly Newsletter.
It was wonderful to receive such overwhelming support and feedback from the release of June’s newsletter.  The contributions and insights (stories, memories and photos) can help us build a better newsletter to share.

Please remember, we welcome any updates of achievements and celebrations, we love to hear all about what our Alumni are up to.

If you have any updates or news to share or any suggestions as to what you’d like to see in future newsletters, please email me at alumni@mwsc.vic.edu.au

To view July’s newsletter click link : Alumni Monthly Newsletter Issue 2 – July 2022

Staying connected is easy when you register your details below and receive the Alumni monthly newsletter via email.

Register here

Ms Victoria Tortopidis
Careers Education and Alumni Coordinator