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Celebrating region’s top achievers
BY BRONWYN HASTINGS
Year 12 graduate Rebekah Wundke is among almost 62,000 school-leavers weighing up tertiary and career options following Thursday’s release of Victorian Certificate of Education results.
A student of Horsham’s Holy Trinity Lutheran College, Rebekah was announced Dux, she received an ATAR of 99, with a perfect study score of 50 in biology.
Rebekah plans to study speech pathology at Adelaide.
College acting principal Jason Przibilla said the score was a great result for both Rebekah and the school.
“Rebekah has put in a lot of hard work over the course of the year, she definitely deserves it,” he said.
“Now is a great time to celebrate all our students’ achievements – we tailor schooling to suit the student and from year 11 we ensure they find a pathway and we work to get them there.
“We celebrate the students who get the 99 just as much as those who get an apprenticeship, or find employment, or pursue an area of study that they want to get to.
“For some students the ATAR is vitally important and something that they do need as part of their next step, and for others, it’s just a little step along the way.”
Horsham College’s Lucy Scott topped her class with 95.8, after studying English, psychology, legal studies, general maths, and health and human development, where she achieved a study score of 48, putting her in the top one per cent of the state.
Lucy said the result was ‘a bit of a shock’.
“I’m very happy, and very surprised
as well. The plan for next year is to head over to Adelaide to do a Bachelor of Business and stay at a residential college,” she said.
“I’m very excited to have a fresh start and explore what my next chapter will bring.”
Horsham’s St Brigid’s College student Sean McDonald, one of 25 graduating VCE students, achieved a score
of 89.5, and plans to take a gap year before studying civil engineering at Monash University.
Ararat Marian College student William Edgar, who scored 93.75, will also take a year off, and would like to study engineering at Monash.
Warracknabeal Secondary College’s Ava Koschitzke, with a score of 91.95, has applied to study biomedi-
cine at Melbourne University. Stawell Secondary College Dux Tayla Field achieved 70.95 and aims to study biomedical science at Deakin University. Milly Keilar is Ararat College’s Dux and Jake Brady the vocational major Dux.
Edenhope College announced Mollie Reid the Dux, and Dimboola Memorial Secondary College student Jaidyn Scott top-scored his class. Jaidyn scored 80.9, after aiming to achieve a score of 80, and is looking to undertake a double degree in law and psychology next year.
Continued page 39
HOLY TRINITY LUTHERAN COLLEGE: VCE Dux Rebekah Wundke and VCE Proxime Accessit Cameron Brito-Mutunayagam.
HORSHAM COLLEGE: Lucy Scott, front right, is Horsham College Dux, pictured with high-achievers, from back left, Jessica Flett, Emily Preston and Anika Watson, middle, Arkie Ellis, Sienna Walsgott, Hannah Weir and Rory Motton; and front, Olivia Koenig and Mikayla Seymour. Pictures: PAUL CARRACHER
ST BRIGID’S COLLEGE: Sean McDonald, front left, is St Brigid’s College Dux. Sean is pictured with highachievers, from left, Tom Sostheim, Danielle Laurie, Indilly Penny, Tom Luke, Scarlett Munday-Terry, Jorja Clode, Jarrah Martin, Ulani Hobbs and Keely Elliot.
Warracknabeal Secondary College Dux Ava Koschitzke
2024 END OF SCHOOL
New faces enjoying new places
BY BRONWYN HASTINGS
Prospective prep students visited Horsham Primary School’s 298 campus during last week’s state-wide transition day to experience their new-year learning spaces.
Teacher Britt Bacon said the 60 transitioning students would fill three classrooms.
“We’ve just had two grades in the past, but this past year we had three, and we’ve got three again,” she said.
“We have lots of siblings of existing students starting, but we also have a lot of new families, which is good. And some of them, I’ve taught their parents, which is a bit crazy.”
Ms Bacon said the students, feeding in from the town’s kindergartens, have visited the school several times during the transition process.
“Students came for half an hour with their kindergarten group, then the last transition we combined a couple of kindergartens,” she said.
“State-wide transition day gives them a full morning in the classroom they’ll be in, with the teacher they will have next year.”
Ms Bacon said the students would learn through traditional reading, writing and maths programs, as well as a play-based learning curriculum.
“We do developmental curriculum as part of their program, which will be really good because that’s not too different from kinder,” she said.
During transition day, the kindergarten students met current grade four students
“The grade fours made their buddies a little gift and wrote a personalised letter to them, telling them things like how excited they were to meet them, and that they’ll have a wonderful time at school,” Ms Bacon said.
The buddy system pairs prep and grade five students, giving the new students a point of contact and a familiar face in the playground.
“Next year the buddies will come and eat with the preps at recess and lunch. We wean them off as the year goes on, but at the start it’s almost every day,” Ms Bacon said.
“Today we had a little girl upset because her kindergarten friend is in a different classroom, so having a buddy gives her her own special person.
“Another good thing to help the preps get to know each other is if the grade five buddies are friends, then they will play
SPECIAL MEETING: Horsham Primary School
2025 prep and grade five buddies Gizem Askar and Heba Rahman. Pictures: BRONWYN HASTINGS
together, and the little kids get to know each other more.”
During the morning, the kindergarten students participated in a developmental curriculum session, and made countdown calendars, featuring a task or activity to do each day in the lead-up to the new school year.
“They drew a picture of themselves on the activity calendar, which has things like do a job for someone, listen to a story, give someone a hug and say I love you, count as high as you can, find five yellow things, practise putting on your shoes,” Ms Bacon said.
The students, among about 440 in the
Work
BIG DAY: Horsham Primary School buddies Mabel Roberts and Bella Walker during last week’s transition day.
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The
Providing a future focused Christian education from Foundation to Year 12
Rebekah
2024 END OF SCHOOL Emily off on exchange
BY BRONWYN HASTINGS
Year
nine Horsham student
Emily Hutchinson is counting down the days until she departs Australia for a year in Germany.
The 15-year-old leaves for Netherlands-bordering Geldern on January 18 in a Horsham East Rotary Club-sponsored exchange.
“As soon as I found out where I was going, I jumped on Google Earth and started ‘walking around’, seeing what the houses looked like and where I might stay,” she said.
Emily has been to opposite ends of Australia, but the exchange will be her first overseas trip.
“I went to Tasmania when I was a little kid, and I’ve been to Queensland and Darwin,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to the adventure – getting to see more of the world and doing exciting things, and learning a new language as well.”
Emily learnt German at Horsham College after learning Auslan at primary school, and has had private lessons in the language.
“Heidi Holtkamp has been tutoring me. She was born and raised in Germany, and was a German teacher,” Emily said.
As well as living as a typical German teen, attending school and staying with a family, Emily will tour Europe.
“The tour starts in Paris and ends in Prague, and I will go to places like Vienna and Nice,” she said.
“Rotary exchange students from all over the world, who are staying in the
region, will come together and do the tour as a group.
“I’m looking forward to meeting the other kids who are over there. I know there’s someone from Columbia – Carlos – who will be leaving soon after I arrive, but that’s the timing of it from different places, I’ll make friends and they’ll leave, but more will come over.”
Expecting to stay with three or four families during the exchange, Emily said she would attend the one school during the year, and visit Rotary clubs around Geldern.
“I will present at the clubs, telling them about myself, Horsham and Australia,” she said.
“I have practised here at the Rotary
and Lions clubs. When I present in Germany, I will do it in English, but hopefully by the end I’ll be doing it in German.”
Days after arriving in Germany, Emily’s family will take her to a football – soccer – game.
“I think as soon as I get there they’re going to stick a football beanie on me and tell me which team to go for – I think they are famous teams, but I don’t know who they are yet,” Emily said.
Emily will miss a full Australian school year, but because she has studied in Horsham College’s accelerated learning program, will be able to enter year 11 when she returns in 2026.
Celebration of students
From page 35
Victoria’s overall VCE completion rate was 97.4 per cent; 13.3 per cent of those were vocational major students.
General achievement tests showed 95 per cent of students met the standards in reading, 98 per cent in writing, and 93 per cent in numeracy.
Reflecting on the year, Lucy said she was strategic in her approach to exams.
“I tried to do every subject each day in small increments, and I tried to do an essay a day for English, if not a full exam in the morning,” she said.
“I would really focus on studying in the times that you have your exam because my legal studies and health ones were both at 3pm, the time of day I like to switch off because it’s the end of the school day.”
Lucy advised next year’s VCE
students to find life balance.
“Try to enjoy it as much as you can – it’s a very tough year, but there’s also a lot of exciting things that happen,” she said.
“Try and enjoy it all, do it all. I found I didn’t burn myself out because I didn’t put all my focus into one area of my life.
“Work is important, and socialising and doing outside activities is also important.”
While many students are celebrating achieving their goals, some may find they need to take alternate pathways to desired outcomes.
Students can speak with their teachers, or visit websites such as www.vic.gov. au/students-mental-healthtoolkit and au.reachout. com/challenges-and-coping/ coping/how-to-deal-withdisappointment.
“Facta non Verba”
GERMANY AWAITS: Emily Hutchinson will leave for Germany next month, where she will spend a year with host families as part of a Horsham East Rotary Club exchange. Picture: BRONWYN HASTINGS
Stawell Secondary College Dux Tayla Field Ararat Marian College Dux William Edgar
WELCOME:
Education support staff member
Amanda Waters and literacy leader and teacher Lisa Ward with students, back, from left, Tiffany Skinner, Dylan Sevenich, Trevor GollanKennedy and Jacob Reed, and front, Elinor Choe, Sophie James and Robbie Muller.
Picture: BRONWYN HASTINGS
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New chapter for school
Horsham Special School is using a $7000 Dymocks Children’s Charities library regeneration program grant and school funds to establish a library for its students.
The indigenous-themed space will feature books of all children’s genres, from multicultural to social and emotional learning, and picture books.
Originally applying to the charity for $5000, teacher Lisa Ward said the school was pleased with the additional funding.
“We have been able to get a lot of variety in the library,” she said.
“The kids have loved it, they’re really
happy, and they have helped with everything in the set-up – covering books, barcoding, transportation, everything.”
Students will be able to visit the library and read, or borrow books to take home.
Principal Ben Tait said the library would help give the school’s 110 students a love of reading.
“It’s fantastic to be able to put books in the hands of the young people, to inspire them to enjoy and love reading, as many, many students do,” he said.
“We were probably missing that little bit of the picture in not having a library, not having books on show to celebrate
with our youngsters, the same as many other mainstream schools do.”
Mr Tait said the school council supported the furnishing of the library.
“The school council helping make the library into a wonderful place to visit, and Dymocks supporting us in buying books, has enabled us to create a space which is all about the love of reading, which is really important and a great addition to the learning programs that we have here,” he said.
Dymocks Children’s Charities provides new books to disadvantaged children across Australia, last year supporting 39,160 children with 70,092 books.
new prep students
Under teacher Ros
will undertake structured learning to meet their individual goals in the areas of numeracy, literacy, communication, and personal and social capability. They will also enjoy sensory-based play, extracurricular activities and one-on-one intervention lessons such as speech therapy. Horsham Special School students travel to the school from across the area, as well as Nhill, Dimboola, Kaniva, Goroke, Edenhope and Serviceton. Students learn using a range of communication, community and curriculum resources tailored to their goals. The school’s enrolment is currently about 110, with students up to the age of 18 years.
Picture: BRONWYN HASTINGS
NEW FACES: Isabella Niblett-Bye and Raine Kilpatrick, pictured, are among seven
to start at Horsham Special School next year.
Gregor, children
I will miss having the one teacher. I am looking forward to seeing my friends from other schools.
Ss Michael and John’s
I will miss my friends and the subjects we do. I am looking forward to the canteen and more subjects.
Ss
and
I will miss the way we learn. I am looking forward to the new things I can do.
I will
and
I will miss how simple it is and my friends from year five. I am looking forward to catching up with current year sevens.
having
I will miss my year five friends and the teachers. I am looking forward to different classes and annoying my sister again.
I will miss most of my friends and teachers. I am looking forward to more activities at secondary school.
I will miss my teachers, I have had great teachers all the way through. I am looking forward to new subjects.
Chelsea Elliott Mercedes Paech
Jagger Smith
Ella Schultz
Horsham Primary School
Cruz Sudholz
Sophie Sparke
Michael
John’s
Abby Brassington Horsham Primary School
miss
the one teacher
the year fives. I am looking forward to seeing the current year sevens.
Will Barnett Horsham Primary School
Sierra Henderson Dimboola Primary School
Artie Avery Dimboola Primary School
Cooper Rentsch
Ss Michael and John’s
Adele Tucker Horsham Primary School
I will miss being the oldest at school. I am looking forward to seeing my friends from other schools.
Sophie Liersch Dimboola Primary School
I will miss my friends and the school camp, but I will see my other friends at secondary school.
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Congratulations Class of 2024
our College community for your support throughout 2024. We look forward to continung our commitment in 2025. See you next year!
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At St Brigid’s College, we o er a range of fee relief options to ensure a quality St Brigid’s College education is a orded to all families. At St Brigid’s, we are guided by our motto of ‘Strength & Kindliness’. Every child is known, valued and respected, with a strong sense of belonging.
Edenhope College is committed to providing an exceptional education for young people.
We strive to support our students to prepare for their future challenges and adventures through a holistic approach to our teaching and learning programs. We not only focus on our students’ academic aspirations, but we also aim to develop their social, physical and emotional selves through a broad range of opportunities both in and out of the classroom.
We dare our young people to be curious, to explore the unknown and to discover their hidden talents. Our students are exposed to a broad range of academic and hands-on learning opportunities including our dynamic agricultural program from F-12. Students participate in an extensive array of co-curricular and learning activities throughout the day.
We have a strong wellbeing team and programs to support and empower students, giving them voice and meeting their wellbeing and engagement needs.
Edenhope College offers small class sizes and personalised learning programs that cater to the needs of the individual. For a small school, we punch above our weight with opportunities and outcomes.
We encourage and nurture student agency and voice, with involvement in programs such as School for Student Leadership and the Rural Youth Ambassadors Program.