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Principal’s Message
Welcome to 2025 at Woodvale Secondary College, an Independent Public School that empowers, challenges and supports students in Years 7-12 to be future-ready.
This year our College celebrates 40 years of serving its community. I have been a part of the College for almost one third of its history having worked here as a teacher in the 90s and now moving into my eleventh year as principal. There are numerous staff who have worked here for over 20 years, providing stability and ensuring retention of corporate knowledge.
Woodvale has long been a school of choice for families in the Kingsley/Woodvale area and has built its reputation on outstanding pastoral care, excellent academic results, sporting opportunities, and a commitment to serving its wider community. Post COVID, we have continued to meet challenges and to help many students achieve success and milestones.
Our core business is education. And we are very good at that. Our results each year and the pathways accessed by our students are proof of this. We will continue to prioritise supporting students to achieve their potential in their chosen pathway. Our cohort of 2024 was no exception with our Dux achieving an ATAR of 99.85 and many Year 12 students achieving multiple national qualifications.
We have a strong connection with our local area intake primary schools through the Kingswood Network. Our students are connected to their local community through workplace learning, music performances, links to Edith Cowan University, sporting engagements and an array of incursions and excursions.
We pride ourselves on the relationships that we develop with students and their families. This is achieved through regular College to home contact, the availability of our staff, our dedicated Student Services team, and our commitment to the social and emotional wellbeing of every student and the provision of a safe and welcoming environment.
We take very seriously our values of respect, responsibility and relationships and expect that all Woodvale community members honour them in every interaction.
One of the best aspects about a school our size is the amazing array of opportunities that is available to students: from specialist programs to excursions to mentoring and much more. Every year I urge each student to take up as many opportunities as they can. We frequently find that those students who are the most successful and most positive about their secondary experience are those who have engaged the most and embraced every opportunity.
This year our focus will be on continuing to build our AEE program and to build further rigour into our lower school curricula, so that students are fully prepared for senior school pathways. We will also be following through with our planned actions post our very successful Public School Review in November last year.
There are many opportunities for families to engage with our College: parent evenings; committees of our specialist programs; College Board; P & C; volunteering; attendances at performances, sporting fixtures and College events.
Families of Year 7 students
We know that this is a special time for you and your child as they enter secondary school. Our very successful Orientation Day last year was the first step in their transition to a different learning environment. This is followed up with the traditional Big Day In. There will be information evenings throughout the year for you to learn more about your child’s journey through secondary school.
Our past experiences have taught us that students are very adaptable and are more than capable of learning new skills quickly. We very much look forward to seeing the progress of our youngest students through their secondary career.
Finally, education works best when the three parties- young persons, parents/caregivers and staff- work collaboratively, and actively and respectfully seek positive solutions to any problems that might arise. We encourage you to engage in your child’s education by attending College events, viewing your child’s results on Connect and having regular discussions with your child about their school experiences.
In the meantime, please know that we remain absolutely committed to our mission: To empower, challenge and support our students. I invite you to visit our College and attend a College tour or other advertised event to gain personal experience of our College.
Kind regards,
Lea Fairfoul-Hutcheon on behalf of the Executive Team
