Newsletter                       

The first two weeks of Term 3 have flown by at Walcom Ngarrwa and it has been a delight to welcome our students back to the school routine after their mid-year break.

As part of our start of term routine, we always spend time revisiting our school vision and mission with staff and making sure our students are aware of our College values and how they can model and live these values whilst with us.  Our mantra, Building Bright Futures, connects all of our school community to our one core purpose, building bright futures for each and every student.  As a school, we want to see our students soar, both academically and personally.  This means that we continue to focus on high expectations for student learning and student behaviour.  This key messaging continues to be conveyed, modelled and reinforced with our students as we move through the term.  Each step of the way, students are encouraged to live our College values of Belonging, Curiosity and Achievement.

The end of Term 2 provided all students with their first Semester Report at Walcom Ngarrwa Secondary College.  In reading through the reports and the achievements of students, there were many learning achievements and milestones to celebrate and I hope that all families have taken the chance to recognise these achievements at home.  With this reporting cycle now complete and listening to the feedback of families, we are now sharing our Semester 2 Assessment Calendar with all students and families.  In addition to ensuring that clear timelines are recorded on Compass, this Assessment Calendar is another tool to support students in completing their work and achieving their best.  We encourage you to keep this calendar handy, to help all students meet the demands of our curriculum and to give each student the opportunity to shine. 

Student Leaders

At Walcom Ngarrwa Secondary College we are privileged to have a team of student leaders who are active, involved and relentlessly pursuing school improvement and student engagement initiatives.  Over the last two terms our student leadership team have been working with staff to develop our House System.  I am excited to share with you that the announcement of our House System is not far away and that our student leaders have done an amazing job in developing this for our College.  A special thank you is extended to Divya and Dexter who came in on our Curriculum Day to share the work of our student leaders with staff.

Stay tuned, there is exciting news to come!!

Languages Program for 2025

We are excited to announce that we are planning the introduction of a Languages Program for students at Walcom Ngarrwa Secondary College. This program will be designed to provide students with the opportunity to learn a second language and enhance their global communication skills. We believe that learning a new language is not only academically beneficial but also culturally enriching.
 
The language program will be a part of the core curriculum offering for students in Year 7 and 8. The classes will be held for 2 sessions each week and will be taught by experienced and qualified language teachers.
 
Learning a second language has numerous benefits for students. It enhances their cognitive abilities, improves their problem-solving skills, and boosts their creativity. Additionally, it broadens their cultural awareness and helps them develop a global perspective. By learning a new language, students will be better prepared to navigate an increasingly interconnected world.
 
Over the term ahead, we will be making a decision around the languages that will be represented as part of our curriculum and would dearly like your input into this decision.
 
As members of our school community, you are invited to provide us with your thoughts and contributions through a brief online survey.  You can access this survey at https://forms.office.com/r/BBmHZYEwwY 

In order to give us every opportunity to recruit suitable staff for a languages program, we ask that you provided us with your contribution by Friday 2^nd August 2024.
 
As we have further information about our Languages Program, this will be shared with you via Compass and our school website.

NAPLAN Information

Since the start of term all families will have received their child’s 2024 NAPLAN Year 7 achievement information.  Again, there is plenty to celebrate in the achievements of many of our students and we hope that all families take the opportunity to celebrate these achievements.  If you need any assistance in understanding the information that has come home, please do not hesitate in contacting us.

If you have not received the information in the post, please let us know and we can check your contact details and arrange for the information to be resent to you.

Year 7 enrolments and demand for 2025

The interest in our College continues to grow because of the outstanding opportunities and outcomes we are achieving for our students.  We have had significant levels of interest from families concerning Year 7 Enrolments for next year.  After careful consideration of all applications for enrolment, we recently made offers to 225 local students for a place with us in Year 7 next year.  This is significantly up from our 2024 cohort enrolment of 175 students.  The interest in the community for places at both Year 7 and Year 8 in 2025 is considerable and we unfortunately had to knock offers of enrolment back for a considerable number of families who reside outside of our designated neighbourhood area.  Whilst the final Year 7 enrolment figure for 2025 is subject to change, the interest in our College from the community is extraordinary. 

As a government school, we will continue to support families within our designated neighbourhood area (or zone), with guaranteed enrolment at Walcom Ngarrwa Secondary College.  I encourage all families considering Year 8 enrolment with us, to first contact the school and organise a time to meet with a member of our Principal Team.

Mobile Phone Reminder

A reminder that the Department of Education has in place a mobile phone ban that requires students who bring mobiles phones to school to have them switched off and securely put away.  At Walcom Ngarrwa Secondary College this means that mobile phones are switched off and away from the time a student enters the school grounds and through until the final bell of the day at 2:49pm.

The department is requiring all schools to ensure this ban is in place and enforced.

The ban applies equally to all government schools right across the state.

 This helps ensure that school is a learning environment free from unnecessary distractions and disruptions.

By ensuring mobile phones are kept away at recess and lunch times, students can interact with each other face-to-face, without the distractions and social pressures that mobile phones can cause.

I ask for the support of all our families, staff and students in continuing to support the implementation of this policy in our school.

Further information

Exceptions: For a small number of students with particular health needs, an exception to the policy may be granted. Please contact Tahnee Curtain if you would like to discuss this.

Emergencies: In the event of an emergency or if you need to immediately contact your child, I ask that families contact the school office who will pass on a message as required.

Parent support: The Mobile phones in schools webpage provides links to resources for families to help them balance their children’s time using mobile phones.
If you have further questions, please contact the office.

 
Parent Opinion Survey

I remind families of The Department of Education and Training (DET) Parent Opinion Survey, 2024.  A link to this Survey has been shared by the College on July 29^th via Compass.  I ask that all families take the time to please complete the Survey provided, as your responses assist us with our continuous improvement agenda and in ensuring that we continue to Build Bright Futures for our students.

Achievements and Feedback

In closing our for this edition, I would like to encourage families to consider two key elements to help us further develop as a school community that has the highest possible positive regard for our students and one that is continually reflective and looking to improve.

Firstly, we know our students do some amazing things at school and we also know that many of them do amazing things beyond the school gate.  Please don’t be afraid to share these achievements with us.  It helps us to know our students better, it strengthens the belonging students and families have with each other, our staff and school and it also allows us to celebrate the amazing things our students are doing and not just as learners.

Secondly, we are always looking at how we can improve our practices, our work and our systems.  If at any stage you would like to provide feedback, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me and I am more than happy to discuss this further.  Partner with us, as we Build Bright Futures for your children and our community.

Have a great week ahead and don’t forget our aim of healthy, happy and curious students.

Student Positive Impressions.

Welcome back to Semester 2!

Some subjects are reaching the end of their first unit for Semester 2 and will begin assessments in the coming weeks.

CAT task sheets and marks will be published on Compass and we encourage you to discuss these assessments and results with your child to support their ongoing growth and success.

CATs beginning in weeks 3 and 4 include:

Maths – CAT 1 – Decimals & Percentages

Humanities – CAT 1 – Digital Museum display

Science – CAT 1 – Earth’s resources

Over the coming weeks, teachers will begin entering Learning Mindset judgements to form Progress Reports.
We encourage students to reflect on their progress and class interactions and use the results as an opportunity for goal setting and reflection

We’re looking forward to a great term of learning and can’t wait to see students progressing towards end of year success.

On 20^th June, a team of Environmental Scientists and Engineers from Decmil, our project partners on the Ison Road Overpass Project ran an incursion onsite for all year 7 students. The incursion looked at the value of water connecting the work that students were doing in Geography during term 3 with the role students play as citizens of Wyndham.

During the incursion, there was a presentation by many of the team from the Ison Road project including Engineers and Environmental Scientists. Students then engaged in three interactive workshops. The first looked at barries to protect and collect water where students had to create a barrier system in teams, the second looked at water management where students had to test flocculant levels to create safe and usable water from water collected on the Ison Road Project itself. Finally, students were able to see the Water Cart in action – as the spray got bigger, so to dis the cheering.

The feedback from the Incursion team about our students and school was really positive and it was lovely to hear the students own feedback about the workshops where they were able to make connections to the real world beyond the Geography classroom.

Ison Road

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Appropriation Art and Artificial Intelligence

Students in Visual Arts last term learned about Art Appropriation and A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) Art. Students then created their own appropriated artwork using A.I. and presented it to their class. Below are some examples.

Can you identify the original artworks behind these? (Answers are at the end).

Appropriated Artwork Answers:

‘Mona Lisa’ by Leonardo da Vinci- Appropriation by Kevin Bantu

‘A young girl reading’ by Jean-Honore Fragonard- Appropriation by Rhianne Amistoso

‘Starry Night’ by Vincent Van Gogh- Appropriation by Logan Griffin

‘The last supper’ by Leonardo da Vinci- Appropriation by Rhema Mitongu

‘Girl with a pearl earring’ by Johannes Vermeer- Appropriation by Zunairah Parvez

We wanted to give advance notice, that as a final celebration of Book Week we will be having a dress up day on Friday 23^rd August. 

The theme this year is ‘Reading is Magic’ and all students are currently in the middle of a reading unit in English called ‘For the Love of Reading’. Students are encouraged to come dressed as a character from any book, comic, manga or to celebrate this year’s theme, masks are another great way to get involved.

To ensure a fun and respectful environment for all students, we’d like to remind everyone of a few important guidelines for costume choices:

1. Appropriateness: Please choose costumes that are suitable for a school setting. This means costumes need to be in line with our school’s dress code policy.
2. Respect and Sensitivity: Ensure that costumes are non-offensive and respectful of all cultures, religions, and backgrounds. We want every student to feel comfortable and included.
3. Safety and Practicality: Costumes should be safe for school activities and not pose any tripping hazards or interfere with classroom learning.

Students can arrive at school in their costumes and wear them for the day, English classes will be spending a small amount of time in the weeks prior thinking about character ideas and ways to create a costume for a character. Students who choose not to dress up are to wear the full school uniform.