Well, that’s a wrap for Warrandyte in 2022!

As the 2022 school year quickly concludes, I would firstly like to take the opportunity to thank the Warrandyte High School Community for so warmly welcoming me as your new Principal. In particular, I would like to thank our current School Councillors for all of their hard work and dedication to our wonderful school – whether it be through fundraising activities, sourcing grants or attending meetings, schools cannot run effectively without a functioning School Council. I pay particular thanks to our School Council President, Simone Spence, our Vice President, Emma Short and to our Treasurer, Luke Konyenburg. Becoming part of a school council is a testament to your desire to see our school improve, despite the commitment it does take – especially for those of you who have taken on in important role this year. Thank you for all that you.

As always, heading into the last month of this term, there have been many exciting things happening both inside and outside the classroom at Warrandyte High School. The Capital Works Project has now finally commenced, and we are in the mid-stages now of the demolition phase. It was particularly exciting during our site-meeting last week when I was able to do a walk-through of the site and then select carpet, walls and pinboard colours. Landscaping is set to commence over the break also.

Our Year 12 students finished off their year with our Valedictory Evening where we celebrated the culmination of 13 years of schooling. Staff and students dressed up and enjoyed an evening of presentations, speeches and memories. I particularly thank Leanne Zammit who worked tirelessly to ensure the evening came to life, during the absence of our VCE Coordinator.

Our ‘2023 Planning Committees’ continued this term and we are currently making some solid plans for 2023 and beyond. We look forward to School Council and student input for our ideas early in 2023. Some of the key changes we have already made for next year include the development and implementation of a Year 7 and a Year 8 pastoral care program (titled W.E.L.L.) which will combine the Victorian Health Curriculum with a range of wellbeing, student engagement and personal growth activities and programs. We are also currently developing our combined Year 7/8 Learning Extension and Acceleration Program for next year. With our Open Night at the end of March, our Marketing Program will need to commence very early next year and any decisions we make around programming/structure for 2024 will need to be made ready to publish for incoming and prospective families.

Our students continue to be at the core of any decisions we make, and all that we do, and it has been fantastic to see our Year 9 and 10 students demonstrate their core learning from Semester 2 during their recent examination period. Outside of that we have also now farewelled our Year 10 and Year 11 students at their recent final assembly for 2023. All Year 7-9 worked hard during their final classes for the year, many enjoyed our ‘Fun Fields Day’ and end of year activities program.

Finally, I wish all members of our school community a lovely Christmas and Summer break. I hope that you all enjoy some time with your families, relax, unwind, and stay safe. 2023 is going to be a significant year for Warrandyte High School.

Rachel Lynch
Principal

AFL ACADEMY

by Luke Paramanathan

We saved one of our best sessions for last, as our AFL Academy students were lucky enough to run through the AFL Draft Combine testing (minus a 2km run). This enabled our students to see how they stack up with the most recent AFL draftees.

We were fortunate enough to have Dynamic Footy Skills to help run the session. They have a vast amount of experience with this kind of testing, including running this testing for the YJFL Interleague programs.

The players conducted themselves brilliantly, and all spoke very highly afterwards about how much they enjoyed it. Their results/feedback have all been sent out to the players, so they’re able to spend the holidays working on any areas they wish to improve upon.

I’m looking forward to seeing how they’ve improved next year when we’ll look to run this session again.

The AFL Sports Academy takes places on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Warrandyte High School

The 2022 Valedictory

Recently at the Karralyka Centre in Ringwood, our impressive graduating class of 2022 were the star attractions at their Valedictory.

It was a magical night. Families, Year 12 students and teachers alike came together to share in this memorable evening.

Students’ achievements were celebrated on this night. Ms Zammit, Ms Milenkovic and their team did a wonderful job making the night memorable.

The Principal formally reflected on the year that was and shared thoughts from teachers who recall the Class of 2022 as wide eyed Year 7 students commencing their high school education.

Ms Zammit on behalf of VCE Leader, Ms Milenkovic, similarly reflected and celebrated the extraordinary achievements of our senior students.

We wish the Class of 2022 every success as they embark on their next exciting chapter.

Year 8 Frisbee Competition

by Mr Sunjo

Just like ‘Alexander The Great’ conquered most of the known world in his time, so did our two Year 8 Frisbee teams in our Interschool competition. Both teams played off in the same Grand Final. Our opponents during the day had very little success against our champions.

Our passing and catching emulated feats that only Border Collies could conjure. We used the blustery conditions so much better than our foes. Seriously, fighting the conditions was like trying to understand government policy…. baffling! At times, a forward throw ended up thirty metres behind where the Frisbee was thrown! Some of the catches were phenomenal. Even players thought, “How did I catch that?”

Ultimately, the Warrandyte High team that brought home the big prize (A hardy pat on the back and a ‘Well done’ from the organisers) stuck to their game plan which comprised short passing to players in free spaces and moving the Frisbee quickly. Both Warrandyte teams’ defensive efforts riled opponents who were not used to being played so intensely!
The winners (and hence the grinners!) were: Layne Carnes, CJ McCarthy, Will Litchfield, Brian Zhang, Toby West, Callan MacKay, Rojan Nikkhah and Sophie Partell.

The runners-up (missed out by ‘that’ much!) were: Solamon Ladiges, Owen Spence, Daniel Greenhill, Matt Pooley, Taj Whitehead, Lachy Barker and Ludvig Harrison.

We all learnt many new rules (especially me!) that we had not played before and most importantly, our kids had great conversations and interactions with opponent teams.

Obviously, no team has success without the people in the background such as myself. Not bragging, but I was probably the best coach in the history of Frisbee. Gems such as, “Try and throw it to one of your team mates” or “Don’t drop the Frisbee” was ultimately the difference between us and our opponents. 😊

A special thanks to Jake Newton for his expertise on the day.

Year 8 Hockey

by Mr Sunjo

Our invincible Year 8 Hockey team played their Regional Round against powerhouses, Kooynung, Balwyn and Blackburn. We managed to apply a thick coat of shellack on Kooynung and Blackburn. Unfortunately, we fell short by one measly goal against Balwyn.

Our team were phenomenal. Jack Brennan was simply mesmerising! He just returned from a tournament playing for the victorious Victorian Hockey team! Even opposition teams applauded some of his efforts (Or my coaching. Both equally skilful. Both equally entertaining). I was on the sideline saying things like, “Is that possible? Did I just see that? What….? But how did he manage to beat every opponent in one move?” Wow!

His efforts allowed others to take dominating strides against opponents. In particular, Will Gedge, Daniel Greenhill and Seb Harrison kept the ball locked up in our forward line for long periods. Layne Carnes, Solamon Ladiges, Lachlan Williams and Lachlan Barker were brilliant in the midfield mopping up potential attack after attack! Callan Mackay, Toby West and Will Litchfield kept the defense clear of opponents’ forwards.

Which brings us to our resident ‘Rock of Gibraltar’, Locklan Roberts. As goalie, Locklan saved our bacon on numerous occasions. Great footwork translated to great saves!

I’d like to announce my retirement from all sporting teams due to popular demand. 😊

Health and Wellbeing

Young people, Parents & Carers

EMERGENCY

• Emergency Assistance
• Police
• Ambulance
• Fire

000 – FREE & from any phone without having to unlock keypad or enter personal security information.
112 – FREE & only on mobile devices.
106 – Text based service for deaf / hearing impaired & used with a Teletypewriter.

Note: if there is NO mobile coverage on any network you will not be able to reach emergency services regardless of what number you call.

PARENTING – Advice from birth – 18 years

Parentline provides a free confidential and anonymous phone counselling and support on parenting for parents and carers of children from birth to 18

13 22 89:8am – 12 midnight 7 days a week

https://services.dhhs.vic.gov.au/parentline Information and access to translated material

ONLINE SAFETY

E Safety is Australia’s national independent watchdog for online safety. The site provides the latest information to help manage all aspects of online safety.
There is a dedicated parent / carers site with advice, resources and webinars.

https://www.esafety.gov.au/

Parent / Carers https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

Translated materials: https://www.esafety.gov.au/diverse-groups/cultural-linguistic/translations

FAMILY VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL ASSAULT

A free national Family violence and sexual assault telephone counselling service.

1800 737 732 – 24 hours a day 7 days a week

https://www.1800respect.org.au/

PERSONAL CRISIS

Provides all Australians experiencing a personal crisis with access to online, phone and face to face crisis support and suicide prevention services

13 11 14 – 24 hours a day 7 days a week

https://www.lifeline.org.au/

GAMBLING

A free confidential service that provides support for anybody impacted by gambling, your own gambling or someone else’s.

1800 858 858 – 24 hours a day 7 days a week

https://www.gamblinghelponline.org.au/services-in-your-state/victoria

SUICIDE PREVENTION

Free counselling for suicide prevention & mental for anyone affected by suicidal thoughts.

1300 659 467  – 24 hours a day 7 days a week

https://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au/

ANXIETY & DEPRESSION

Provides information and support to help everyone achieve their best possible mental health

1300 224 636 – 24 hours a day 7 days a week

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/

YOUTH ALCOHOL & DRUGS

The Youth Drug and Alcohol Counselling program provides FREE individual counselling & education for young people (16-25) with an alcohol and/or drug issue. Educational sessions are available to help families recognising an emerging issue of substance use in their family

1300 007 873 & 1300 003 224 – Mon -Fri 9am – 5pm

info@each.com.au
Contact – EACH
Youth Drug and Alcohol Counselling – EACH

HEALTH ADVICE

A phone helpline that provides immediate health advice and information about health services in your area from a registered nurse.

1300 60 60 24 – 24 hours a day 7 days a week

www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/serviceprofiles/nurse-on-call-service
Translated information available

YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH 12-25 YEARS

Free, confidential service
for young people 12 – 25 years who need help with mental health, alcohol and other drugs or work and study support.

Level 1, 78 Main Street, Greensborough
To make an appointment, contact during opening hours on 9433 7200
HeadspaceGreensborough@mindaustralia.org.au
Monday – Friday varing times between  9am – 6pm
headspace Greensborough | Youth Mental Health Centre & Services
Plenty Valley (headspace.org.au)

YOUTH CRISIS COUNSELLING 12-25YEARS

Free, confidential 24/7 phone and online counselling service for young people aged 5-25

1800 551 800
https://kidshelpline.com.au/
24 hours a day 7 days a week

Path2Help

Path2Help is free, confidential online service that can help navigate your way through the maze of support services for family and friends of people who use alcohol and other drugs.

Research found that most people (71%) find it difficult to access alcohol and other drug information and support because they don’t know where to look or what questions to ask.

Path2Help helps you get support early as soon as you identify a problem. The portal asks up to 11 questions and provides local support services based on your answers – you don’t need to know what you’re looking for, Path2Help’s intuitive search function does it all for you.

Sifting through more than 10,000 specialist services, the tool can help you have conversations about alcohol and other drugs, manage conflict, find support and treatment, and more.

path2help – Alcohol and Drug Foundation (adf.org.au)

Fiona Keech
Adolescent Health

Year 8 State Baseball Finals: Cheltenham Baseball Club, November 2022

Our team of ten players successfully qualified for the State Baseball Finals in Cheltenham by winning their previous round against some pretty tough local opposition back in October. The first date was cancelled due to rain which seems to be the story of spring 2022, however, two weeks later and after some cold lunchtime training sessions, the Year 8 boys were off to play against the best Victoria has to offer with their principal, Mrs Lynch and Mr Blair as coach.

The first match saw us being We placed in the game after 2 innings and the Warrandyte players were fielding extremely well with a well-timed double play and some good pitching from Toby Potter and Quinn D’ambrosio.

Our next match was a really close game and the Warrandyte players were sneaking bases efficiently and connecting with a few decent hits too. The game went into the final innings and unfortunately the boys lost the game 9 to 8.

Well done to: Ryan Cartwright, Quinn D’ambrosio, Angus Dorman, Cruz Gaugg, Jacob Habel, Sebastian Harrison, Hadyn Maxwell, Tom Pinder, Toby Potter and our captain Archie Wood. They did an amazing job and should be proud that they are one of the top 5 Baseball teams in the State.

Italian at Warrandyte High

Italian is the LOTE language taught at Warrandyte High School. In Year 7, students learn a plethora of amazing phrases and vocabulary. We focus on pronunciation as well as on the correct spelling and grammar.

Did you know? There are some grammatical differences between English and Italian which our Year 7 and 8 students learn. For example, unless at the start of a sentence, the days of the week and the months of the year do not require a capital letter. You could give these words a capital letter – but you would be wrong!

Let’s practice:
Oggi e’ lunedi – Today is Monday
Note: there is no capital letter associated with lunedi (Monday)
Oggi e’ martedi – Today is Tuesday Correct, no capital “m” for martedi/Tuesday)

Domani e’ mercoledi – Tomorrow is Wednesday (True, we could use a capital “m” and write “Mercoledi” but we would be grammatically incorrect!

Unless at the start of a sentence, days of the week and months of the year do not require a capital letter!

Just some of the magic learnt in Year 7 Italian!