Mooroolbark College Newsletter – February 2025

The Houses were thrilled to welcome back their students – refreshed and ready to go for a big 2025! 

It was great to welcome our new Year 7 cohort in Week 1 to their first taste of high school life at Mooroolbark College. The Houses prepared various activities and games for the students that was aimed to increase connection amongst the students. 

Year 7’s were introduced to their coordinators and House team, which is an essential part of the support network within the House structure. The House system is designed to create a family atmosphere within each House, where the House teams get to know students and their families well throughout their time at Mooroolbark College which allows us to best support each student. 

One of the main changes in 2025 is the modification of ‘Homegroup’ to ‘Connect’. ‘Connect’ is students first point of connection to the Mooroolbark College school community each day and is aimed to be a fun and interactive start to the day that assists in the development of positive relationships with their peers and teachers. There will be plenty of House based activities, games and competitions with both physical and academic challenges. 

Students and parents will now also see ‘Connect’ on student reports – including their attendance and a report on how they are progressing in the subject. 

Coming up in Term 1 is the school swimming carnival. We encourage all students to dress up in their House colours and get involved in any event! There are plenty of in and out of water events for students to participate in. Every student who participates earns points for their House, with a swimming carnival trophy on the line! All points go towards the coveted House Cup which is announced at the end of each year. 

In Week 3, Houses will be running their first assemblies of 2025. This is a great opportunity for Houses to introduce their student leadership teams, promote different events within the college and introduce our Year 7 cohort. 

We look forward to working with you in 2025 and having a great year! 

The Junior School team is delighted to welcome students back in 2025. We are excited for a fantastic year ahead, filled with opportunities to connect, explore, and challenge ourselves. Highlights of the year include the Year 8 Summit Camp, Year 9 City Experience, interschool sports, meeting our new ‘Connect’ groups, and visits to the Yarra Ranges Tech School. We can’t wait to see all that our students will achieve in 2025! 

Year 7 students at Mooroolbark College have had an exciting start as they settled back into school last week with our Ready to Learn program. Students were ushered into T-block where staff were gathered to welcome our brand-new cohort of 2025!  

Our Year 7s followed an exciting program over Thursday and Friday, helping them to prepare for the year ahead. We started the year off with students attending their very first ‘Connect’ class and a house welcoming session. Students also participated in our annual year 7 interhouse competition, earning valuable points for their houses. All our classes attended a thrilling math show that had students solving problems they never thought possible and boosting their confidence.  

In the library, students gathered to be inspired by award-winning author Sofie Laguna, who shared her journey as a writer and spoke about the joy of reading and writing for personal growth, rather than just for teachers. Her visit encouraged students to embrace literacy and creativity in their own way. 

Transition mentors worked closely with their form groups to foster student relationships and ensure a smooth start to school life. Through engaging games and activities, they helped students build connections with their peers while also guiding them through essential digital tasks. This included setting up their ICT accounts, successfully logging into Compass, and organising their coloured subject folder. We hope The Ready to Learn program helped our students transition smoothly into Year 7, equipping them with the skills, confidence, and enthusiasm to make the most of their learning journey here at Mooroolbark College! 

The Year 7 Welcome BBQ and Club Sign-Up Night was a fantastic opportunity for students and their families to connect with the school community. With a delicious barbecue providing a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere, students had the chance to meet their peers, teachers, and support staff. The event also showcased the wide range of clubs and extracurricular activities available, encouraging students to explore their interests and get involved in school life. From sports teams, Art Club, Tournament of the Minds and many more, there was something for everyone, helping Year 7s feel excited and connected in their new school environment. 

Year 8 and 9 students have had an energetic start to the year, meeting their new form groups and trialing their new elective subjects with enthusiasm. The SHIELD program for Year 9 was also launched for 2025. Students are eager to begin their chosen sport and earn valuable points for their house.  

We wish all students the best for the year ahead. 

The senior school student’s year has started with a bang! All year 12 students took part in a “Deep Dive into 2025” which involved a day spent together forming relationships, team building and motivating them for the year ahead.  

Our starting session was with Daniel Merza, a speaker who travels the world talking to students about being leaders of their life. He also talked about the monkeys we all have on our backs and students got to identify which monkey was holding them back from experiencing success for 2025. 

Following this, students enjoyed some lunch of pizza and fish and chips before dividing off into single smaller sessions to that were focused on Mindfulness, Wellbeing or Study Skills. Students got to choose which two sessions they wanted to experience and saw to many of them developing themselves for the year ahead.  

We have also welcomed Year 11 VCE and VCE VM students back with two sessions Elevate. These sessions saw our students develop Time Management and their own Elevation of themselves. We wrapped up the day with some interhouse competition to which Darrang House landed on top. The jump from year 10 to 11 has been made apparent and it is good to see all senior students making the most of their study time and utilising Club 3/4. 

We celebrated the success of the Class of 2024 in a general assembly, by inviting the top 10 students to speak at the assembly. Congratulations to Liam Price, Daniel Harrison, Natsha Rowe, Jesse Johnston, Jackson Reid, Belle Gavin, Natalya Wheeler, James Flewellen, Harry Cathie, Saskia McPherson.  

We are now settling into the first of many SAC-heavy weeks. Some advice to all our VCE and VCE VM students: 

1. Balance is important 

Senior school years are hard work! Keep up your hobbies and leisure activities and talk to someone if things are getting overwhelming. All staff at Mooroolbark College are here to support you through these two years 

2. Find YOUR best way to study 

VCE and VCE VM is all about independent learning and finding out how you learn best. This means discovering how you study. You might learn best by drawing pictures and diagrams, making up songs with matching dances, or you might learn by simply writing things down. 

As well as experimenting with different methods of study, try studying at different times of the day. You might be sharpest of an evening, rather than the morning! If you know yourself and how you study, learn and remember, you will have a better chance of knowing your coursework. 

3. Time Management is key 

Learning how to use your time effectively is crucial in building personal and school life balance, reduce stress, handing in assessments on time as well as being prepared for all your SACs and exams. 

4. SACs are intended to prepare you for exams 

School Assessed Coursework (SACs) is the closest you’re going to get to an exam situation throughout the year, especially with regards to time constraints. Use your SACs to practise completing assessment tasks in allocated times. That practise is absolutely essential and will give you an advantage in the exam. It will also help you to feel at ease and less pressured when having to write a lot in such a short amount of time. Treat every SAC like you would an exam

5. Consistency is key 

No one can cram a unit of work in one or two nights before a SAC. Give yourself every opportunity to succeed. Regular study sessions every night will pay off in the end. Whether you are doing VCE or VCE-VM, keeping up-to-date with your coursework as it is due, is the best way to stay ahead of the game.