College Council
Thank you to all members of College Council for their support this year. We held our final meeting for the year last week. College Council is made up of parent, student, and staff representatives as well as our College Captains and my Executive Team. We will be calling for nominations for the new College Council which starts in March 2025 towards the beginning of next year.
Jazz Night
On Tuesday 2 December we held our annual Jazz under the Stars Night. The music was superb, and parents, staff and students all enjoyed the evening. Thank you to the parents who manned the sausage sizzle on the night and all the instrumental staff and other staff who supported this event. Special thanks to Mrs Tijtje Keatley-Music Director for overseeing this event along with our 2025 Music Captains – Ananya and Jacqui. Funds raised will go towards the New Zealand Music Tour in 2025.
Uniform Shop Volunteers
On Wednesday 4 December we held a brunch to thank our wonderful volunteer parents who run our Second-hand Uniform and Book Shop. This is such an important resource for our learning community, and we couldn’t offer this service without parent/carer support. Congratulations to everyone involved and we will be calling for expressions of interest for more parent volunteers to join our team early next year.
2025 Orientation Day
Thanks to the Junior Sub school Team for overseeing our Orientation Day on Tuesday 10 December, which saw nearly 320, 2025 Year 7 students join our learning community. It was a wonderful day, and it was great to see everyone welcoming our new students to the college.
Award Winner
On Friday 13 December, Year 12 student Georgia K attended the Chisholm Community Spirit Awards. Dr Carina Garland, the MP for Chisholm presided over the event. Georgia was a part of a small group of students who received the award.
The Halina Strnad Community Spirit and Leadership Awards are presented to students in the Chisholm electorate. The awards recognise inspirational young people who make a difference to their communities and to the civic life of their schools. Congratulations Georgia and thank you to Mr Grant who represented the college on the night!
Year End Program (YEP)
The Year End program concluded last week. Thank you to all the staff who helped supervise the various activities. I heard our students thoroughly enjoyed their different sessions and excursions. Special thanks to Ms Brinda Manogaran and Mr Peter Young who oversaw this program with the help of Mrs Narda McLennan and Ms Juliana Sung. It was great to see our students enjoying these special activities at the end of the year!
Farewell and Best Wishes to our Retirees
It is with sadness that we farewell four valued members of staff (teachers and support staff) at the end of the year.
Below I have listed their years of service to Mount Waverley Secondary College.
Mr Kevin Cai – 12 years
Mrs Raelene Luscombe – 12 years
Ms Colleen O Shea – 38 years
Mrs Anne Peterson – 39 years
Mrs Mary Tsagaris – 31 years
Mr Alan Yeung – 31 years
Thank you to all these wonderful members of staff for their dedication and service to our learning community over many years. We wish our retirees the best in their future endeavours and know that they will enjoy the next phase of their lives.
2025 Financial Contributions
Parents/Carers should have received a Compass alert regarding 2025 Financial Contributions. Parent/Carer voluntary financial contributions have allowed us to run extensive well-being programs, a wider offering of subjects and special curriculum experiences; enhanced digital learning opportunities; faster WIFI and internet, and enhanced grounds and indoor and outdoor learning spaces. The financial contributions we have received this year is lower than in previous years. This is likely to have an impact longer term to the college’s financial viability, in turn impacting what resources we can offer our students. Contributions to our Building Fund are tax deductible and you will be sent a tax receipt from our Finance Department. Please support our learning community by contributing to these important financial contributions.
2025 Return to School Dates
The first day for Years 7, 10 and 12 students is Wednesday 29 January and Year 10 and 12 students head off to camp on this day. Years 8, 9 and 11 students start on Thursday 30 January. The General Offices will be open for business on Tuesday 28 January.
2024 Presentation Night
We held another great Presentation Night in the Besen Centre on Tuesday 17 December. It was great to recognise students from all year levels; including our Year 12 award winners which were determined by their official VCAA results which they received last Thursday. Congratulations to all 300+ students who received their awards on the night in various categories. I am very proud of your achievements.
Year 12 Results
Congratulations to our 2024 College Dux Maya C who scored an outstanding 99.55 ATAR. We also had 19 students receive ATAR scores above 95, 40 above 90 and 108 above 80 which was a great achievement. Well done to three of our students Maya C, Neyssa S and Suha R who scored perfect study scores of 50 in Art Making and Exhibiting, Health and Human Development and Visual Communication and Design. We had 257 achieving their VCE Certificate this year which was one of our biggest cohorts completing Year 12 in the past few years.
Happy Holidays
I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all students who have done their best always to fulfil their potential in all activities they have undertaken at Mount Waverley Secondary College this year. Such a positive attitude to learning enables our college to maintain its exemplary learning culture.
I wish all members of the Mount Waverley Secondary College learning community a well-deserved safe and relaxing holiday. I look forward to joining you in 2025 for another successful year.
Mrs Karen Wade
College Principal