On Tuesday 28th March we boarded a plane in Sydney heading to Kathmandu, after spending a day sightseeing, we then travelled 7 hours by mini-bus to Sindhuli, bumpy, bouncy, windy and scenic would best describes the trip. Arriving at the school we were welcomed by Principal Tej Bikram Thapa and the former Principal Amber Deep, a brief presentation followed then we toured the school grounds to check out the work we would be doing.

RAWCS Team Leader – Peter Elias from the Rotary Club of Albury broke the team into smaller work crews and detailed the work we hoped to complete over the 2 week period. The main priority was to install a permanent reliable water supply – certainly something we take for granted in Australia, being able to turn a tap on and have an unlimited supply of clean fresh water. In the dry season the school was without water and could only afford to purchase enough for drinking, which doesn’t help to make the toilets clean and hygienic. This involved laying water pipes and electrical wiring from the well to a header tank, approx. 400mtrs, installing a Sky Hydrant, water filter unit and connecting into the existing water reticulation system.
SCTI is similar to our VET classes and currently offer courses civil engineering, veterinary science, survey, building trades and plan to commence nursing training in the near future. Previous RAWCS teams completed the construction of the nurses’ classrooms and commenced work on building the nurses dormitory. The second crew were assigned the task of sanding and painting 15 rooms on the first floor of the dormitory. The third crew were directed to a large open space on the second floor and asked to divide it into 15 rooms – installing steel stud walls, sheeting, wiring, plastering, and then start on the suspended ceiling installation.

An enormous amount of work was in front of the team, but everyone jumped in enthusiastically and worked day after day to get it all finished. I spent time between different crews doing some electrical work with dad, painting a few rooms, a little bit of plumbing, and helping out wherever I could.

A highlight of the trip was the opportunity to hand over 25 laptops to SCTI, generously donated by ¸£Àû¼§. We are so lucky with the choice of subjects, equipment, furniture, and grounds that we have at WSSC compared with the schools in Nepal. During the trip we visited some primary schools where Rotary have a Student Sponsorship program in place, students are provided uniforms, shoes, school bag, stationary, and a meal each day at a cost of $75 per student, otherwise they simply would not attend school and miss out on an education.

I may have missed out on Easter Eggs, but I certainly had a wonderful Easter volunteering in Nepal.

Imogen Edger
Year 11 Student

Our boys team consisted of Nan Boonfraung, Jojo Sovan, Lucas Pickersgill, and Liam Hughson. We played three matches against Yea High School, Cobram, and Grace College. In the first thrilling encounter, we defeated Yea HS with a score of 4 – 2. The match was closely contested, with both teams exhibiting exceptional skills and strategy. The second match saw a stunning turnaround as Cobram HS came out strong to outplay us with a score of 4 – 2. It was remarkable display of resilience and determination, with Cobram HS showing remarkable skills and tactical finesse. In the final match, Grace College displayed an overwhelming performance, securing a convincing victory with a score of 6 – 0 against us, which put us in 3rd place overall for the day.

Throughout the day, the players showcased their passion for the sport, with intense rallies, skilful shots, and remarkable sportsmanship. These matches were a testament to the dedication and hard work of all the teams involved in making the Hume senior boys badminton tournament an exciting and memorable event.

Student Musafiri Runanika scoring one of his four goals.

We then took on Galen College who we previously defeated in the Upper Hume Region Soccer Tournament. It was a tough battle and in the end, it was a 0-0 draw with neither side unable to score.
Our final game was up against Greater Shepparton City College. This game had a lot on the line as whichever team won, would advance through to the SSV State Finals. Wodonga Senior Secondary was able to score first with Harry Maher scoring his second goal for the day. However, we were unable to stop the momentum from GSSC’s forward press and the end result was a 2-1 victory to Greater Shepparton City College.

Our Senior Boys Soccer team.

All in all, the Senior Boys Soccer Team did Wodonga Senior Secondary so proud and it was a great effort to make it this far with how strong soccer is in this region. Majority of our team were Year 11s so we have lots of optimism that we can back it up and go even further next year.
A Big thank you to Emily Woolford for her coaching throughout the 2 tournaments and for driving the bus to Shepparton. She also gave up a lot of her time organising training sessions and meetings for the team. Thank you to Taliesin Hurst and Jayden Head for helping on the day.

WSSC students, Kiah Andersen, Abbey Rose and Dakota Flack have been busy reading and reviewing some of the shortlisted titles.

Come to the library to read and review one of the books for yourself and get a prize!

With more than 600 sessions scheduled for the evening, parents were able to attend their meetings by clicking on links they received via email and utilised either their personal computers or mobile devices to join the calls, which were each scheduled for 10 minute sessions.

This was an overwhelming success, with both parents and College staff participating in the session commending how seamless the transition to hosting the meetings within a virtual environment was. Parents have commented on how convenient the format of the sessions was, being able to call-in from work, home or on-the-go from their mobile device. The utilisation of an online platform to host our first Student Progress Interviews for the year meant that parents who would otherwise not be able to attend the evening were able to meet and discuss their child’s progress online.

¸£Àû¼§ would once again like to extend our thanks to Parents, students, staff and to our IT team for such a successful evening.

Tegan was the lucky recipient of the Georgy Award for ‘Creative/Technical Achievement in a Junior Production’ and was awarded this for her exceptional dedication and expertise to theatre studies and school productions. Joining Tegan in being a Georgy Award recipient were fellow cast members Holly Kupa, who ‘Best Junior Performance in a Support (Female), and Harrison Taylor who won a Judges Award. Tegan was very grateful to receive the award not only as a reward for all her hard work, but as it shows that all aspects of the Performing Arts are appreciated and recognised. “It was definitely unexpected, but it’s nice to be appreciated for all that work you’ve put in and it’s good that it shows that not only performers get recognised.” Said Tegan.

Tegan has been heavily involved in the technical production of the two WSSC School Productions of ‘The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee’ and ‘Matilda’. As well as these Tegan has been involved in the State School Spectacular and numerous local theatre productions, including ‘CATS The Musical’ in 2018. Receiving this award has helped push Tegan to pursue her love and passion of the theatre and technical production and hopes to continue working in this industry.

Tegan’s advice to future students interested in the Performing Arts is to just give it a go and get involved in any way you can, it’s a lot of fun and a great experience to be part of a production even if you’re not performing.

Left to Right: Vern Hilditch, Makaliah Knight, Uncle Allan Murray, Lorrolye Kernaghan, Brooke Musgrave

 
The plaque was officially unveiled by Dhudhuroa Elder Uncle Allan Murray. The plaque features the Australian flag, the Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag as well as the symbols of our four House groups; Nangwiya the long-neck turtle, Wanumarru the hawk, Wagarra the black crow and Gawungwa the black possum.

With the unveiling of this plaque, at the front door of our school, we recognise the importance of the traditional Dhudhuroa owners of the land and acknowledge the strategies which we believe could be implemented to improve Indigenous outcomes in the wider community. By achieving these goals we hope to share our culture with all students within the College. We hope the students will develop a stronger understanding of history in order to celebrate our future.

¸£Àû¼§ VET Music students at 2019 Wodonga District Arts Festival

Both ¸£Àû¼§ and Wodonga Middle Years College have had a long history with the event, with students assisting with the technical production and stage managing as a natural progression of their coursework in class. For some students this is the second year that they have volunteered at the Wodonga District Arts Festival as loving the opportunity to work within their community as they work as a team to ensure the performances are well lit and sound fantastic, coordinating the requirements of each performance.

A festival of colour – Wodonga District Arts Festival in its 24th year

Earlier this year Gurbani was selected by the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) to attend the London International Youth Science Forum which will be held at the Imperial College, London later this year. Her selection followed from her attendance at the NYSF 2019 Year 12 Program. The NYSF aims to encourage young people to continue studying science related subjects in university and to build careers in the various science, technology and engineering fields and has been operating for more than 30 years. Gurbani was selected to attend the NYSF by the Rotary Club of Wodonga West.

Each year, the NYSF facilitates participation in a number of similar International Programs for young Australians in Year 12. In 2019, over 500 NYSF students will be attending one of these opportunities during the year.

Gurbani is seeking support for fundraising to participate in the London International Youth Science Forum and to attend the CERN Discovery Program. Her fundraising goal is $7,100.
Gurbani is excited to learn more about the field of science and its application to our society and how she can contribute to the domain, looking forward to meeting other young people with a passion for science, having an opportunity to discuss topics that will have an impact on their future.

“As the most educated generation that has ever existed, so it is exactly our duty to take care of the planet that we’re on� said Gurbani.

Gurbani has received a great deal of support from her teachers, receiving overwhelming references from her teachers when applying for this year’s conference.
This isn’t the first experience that she has had with events like this, attending a science conference in Canberra earlier this year which has created many opportunities for Gurbani, including an an invitation to attend the National Youth Science Forum in London.

Gurbani aims to follow her passion for science after graduating from the College by continuing her education at University with an aim to pursue a career in Physics.

You can support Gurbani by donating to her Gofundme campaign: 

Changing Channels: Students (Back L-R) Lleyton Southern and Dylan Muller with (Front L-R) and Eden De Ruiter and Maddison Hamilton.

The group are seeking students with a range of skill to assist in the running of the 2019 Graduate Program Impact Project, including Announcers, Producers, Graphic Designers and Web Developers to to be a part of their 2019 team. In this new format, a daily video broadcast will be produced and streamed live throughout the College during lunch and recess.

Year 11 student Maddison Hamilton said that she is excited to see the student-led show take a new form and looks forward to celebrating College culture and events through this new platform.

Students who feel that they have the necessary skills and commitment are encouraged to contact Mr Turner (TUR@www.wssc.vic.edu.au) for more information and a chance to be involved in this exciting new Graduate Program Impact Project activity for 2019.