Campus Connect: Newsletter Issue 2

Staughton College End of Term 2 Newsletter

As Term 2 comes to an end, it is a great opportunity to reflect on the many accomplishments made at Staughton College. This term was filled with exciting progress and rich opportunities for both our students and staff.

Evolution of Staughton College’s Values
On Tuesday 10 June, we held our Evolution of Staughton College Values, a student free curriculum day that allowed space for staff reflection and renewal. We were joined by past principals, School Council members, and our current school leaders for this important event.

Facilitated by an external provider using the Appreciative Inquiry approach, the day focused on revisiting our college values and exploring whether they continue to reflect who we are as a school community and who we want to be in the future. It was a powerful and inspiring day that celebrated our history and challenged us to think ahead.

This work is ongoing. In Semester 2, students and parents will also have the opportunity to provide input into shaping our updated values before they are finalised.

Student Safety: Our Top Priority
The safety and wellbeing of every student continues to be our highest priority. We want all young people to feel safe, valued, and supported every day at school.

This term, we reinforced the importance of knowing where to go and who to speak with if students experience or witness bullying, whether in person or online. We encourage all students to speak up for themselves or others so we can work together to maintain a safe and welcoming environment for all.

This commitment is reflected in recent student surveys, where our students reported feeling safe at school and enjoying their experience here at Staughton.

Wearing the correct school uniform is another way we build a respectful culture that reflects pride in our college. While we understand some students have exemptions, we will continue to work with families to ensure students are supported and feel a strong sense of belonging.

Thank you for partnering with us to ensure every student feels safe, supported, and ready to learn. If you ever have concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are always here to help.

School Review in Term 2
This term, Staughton College completed its scheduled Department of Education school review, which occurs every four years at the end of the School Strategic Plan cycle.

Over six days, our review panel visited classrooms, spoke with students, teachers, support staff, and families, and evaluated our progress. From this process, a new School Strategic Plan will be developed to guide the college’s priorities and improvement efforts, informing our Annual Implementation Plans (AIPs) moving forward.

We expect to receive the final review report and recommendations early next term and will share key outcomes with our school community.

General Achievement Test (GAT)
Our senior students completed the General Achievement Test (GAT) in early June. This was a key milestone in their academic journey. I want to commend our students for their calm, focused approach on the day and for the way they represented the college.

Thank you also to our staff for ensuring the day ran smoothly and for their ongoing support of student success.

Our New Facilities
Construction continued on our brand new STEAM building on the east side of the college. Once completed in mid 2026, this facility will provide state of the art learning environments for our students. While this work continues, staff, students, and families will need to navigate changes to access and movement around the site.

Additionally, construction on a new administration building is scheduled to begin later this year or early next year. This will cause some disruption to access at the front of the school. We will share information closer to the time to help everyone prepare for the changes.

We have also received approval for additional double storey portable classrooms, which are expected to be ready very soon. This exciting investment will ensure our growing student population continues to have access to high quality learning spaces.

Year 7 Camp
As I write this, our Year 7 students and staff are enjoying their time away on camp. We hope it’s a wonderful and exciting experience for all involved. Camps like this offer students valuable opportunities for personal growth, teamwork, and life-long learning.

Thank You
Thank you for your ongoing support throughout Term 2. It has been a term filled with achievement, reflection, and progress. I hope all families enjoy a restful and safe break, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back for Term 3.

Warm regards
Mr Devine
Principal, Staughton College

Hi Everyone

Can everyone believe it is the end of term 2 … apart from the weather, unless you want to snuggle in bed, there are lots of things to look forward to over the holidays. Why not jump on a train and join the  free family day at Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre on 6 July. There’ll be market stalls, artist talks and kid-friendly activities. Or enjoy a free festival at Fed Square on 11 July and check out performances by the likes of ARIA-winning Electric Fields. Plus there’ll be food trucks, a pop-up market and heaps more fun. There’s also the Victoria Market, the art gallery and ACMI at Fed square, all free activities and great to do something different.

As always we have been busy in the library revitalising the collection with new offerings and removing some of the older unused items. We love to keep our offering fresh and inviting and welcome student suggestions for new content to expand and enhance the existing resources.

For those students who are participating in the Melton Libraries Short Story completion, don’t forget, there are writers standing by to proof read your stories. Get those entries ready to go and post them to the website.

Don’t forget, to access student accounts use the QR code and sign in with the student code, for example (ABC0001) using the password ‘student’.

To join or access our Google Classroom use the QR code or the classroom code to join 5d7qree. We look forward to continuing to work with the students, finding ways to engage them with the library and their reading journey.

From all of us at the library to all of the students and families, we wish you a wonderful, fun filled holiday and trust everyone will return refreshed and ready for term three.

Melinda, Will and Andrea.

Book of the Month

This month our selection for Book of the Month is ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ by Suzanne Collins. This is the new Hunger Games prequel. This Dystopian Fantasy tells the story of Haymitch Abernathy’s Hunger Games, the 50th Games, also known as the Second Quarter Quell. As the reaping day dawns, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honour of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes. Due to a series of unexpected events, Haymitch is chosen as one of the male tributes for District 12. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands President Snow has set him up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena. Having read the book myself I would recommend it to Hunger Games fans, the end will leave you with many more questions … . A film adaptation is scheduled for release on November 20, 2026.

During the term, students from class 7K explored the topic of climate change as part of their Geography unit, Water in the World. As a culmination of their learning, some students created informative and visually engaging posters to highlight key concepts and issues related to climate change. These posters showcase their understanding of the causes, impacts, and possible solutions to one of the most pressing global challenges of our time.

Year 12 Unit 3 Chemistry,  Chemistry students, learn that chemistry is the ultimate life metaphor, focusing on reaction rate equations and Maxwell-Boltzmann diagrams, they slowly realize that chemistry isn’t just about molecules. Just like a sluggish reaction desperately needs a catalyst, they, too, need caffeine in the form of Coffee or some sickly-sweet energy drink to speed up their productivity. Le Chatelier’s principle teaches them that life, like chemical equilibrium, is a cruel force—push too hard one way, and the universe shoves back to restore balance, usually in the form of an all-nighter before an exam. And Maxwell-Boltzmann? Well, let’s just say at the end of term they relate a little too much to that little fraction of molecules with low energy—the ones barely crawling through their study notes while their other classmates zoom past, existing at peak kinetic energy. Chemistry isn’t just science—it’s survival.

Year 12 Chemistry students quickly learn that life, much like reaction kinetics, demands practice—because no one perfects their equilibrium shifts on the first try. Le Chatelier’s Principle teaches them that forcing change often leads to unintended consequences—just like trying to cram for an exam overnight usually results in exhaustion rather than enlightenment. Maxwell-Boltzmann diagrams remind them that energy distribution isn’t fair—some students race through questions and problems with high kinetic energy, while others struggle just to get their reaction started. And lab work? Well, that’s where they realize that despite meticulous planning, something will inevitably go wrong—pipettes will slip, solutions will misbehave, and someone will forget to zero the balance. But that’s the beauty of chemistry, and life—it’s messy, frustrating, and sometimes surprising, but with enough practice (and maybe a little caffeine), it all comes together in the end. Just don’t lick the spoon.

Well done Yr 12 Chem Catz for Unit 3, you’ve got this, I believe in you.

Henryka Benson

At Staughton College we value the diversity of culture, ethnicity, and faith of all our students.  We are proud of our diversity, and everyone is welcome at our school.

Celebrating the diversity of our community makes us stronger, kinder and more innovative.  We are committed to making sure that students from all backgrounds feel accepted, supported and able to learn.

We teach all students according to our school values and teach the respectful relationships framework.  This includes education around diversity and inclusion.

To achieve our values and aims, everyone at Staughton College plays an important role.

This week, we have reminded students of our values and the importance of using these in everything we do.

To help us make Staughton College a place where everyone feels welcome, respected and supported, we encourage you to also speak to your child about these values, as well as the importance of:

• understanding that we celebrate diversity and multicultural inclusion
• understanding the importance of everyone at school being treated with respect.

For more information, please see Racism: talking with children and teens, Raising Children Network.

We expect families to also display our school values when dealing with other members of our school community.

NAIDOC 2025 School Holiday Craft T3_Quantin Binnah

Our latest Merit Mart was a roaring success! As part of Staughton College’s School Wide Positive Behaviour framework, students are recognised for being dedicated, kind, respectful, and upholding our school values—earning merits along the way.

On Friday 23 May, those merits turned into currency as the Merit Mart opened its doors. The turnout was fantastic, with students lining up excitedly to trade their hard-earned merits for a range of fun rewards. It was wonderful to see our school values celebrated in such a positive and engaging way.

Well done to all our amazing students—your efforts truly matter, and Merit Mart is proof of that!

A special thank you to the SWPBS team, the Mini School teams and YEP students for the support in organising and running this successful event.

We are very excited to share that capital works have officially commenced for our new STEAM building!

The construction team is currently undertaking the important task of drilling 167 foundation pilings, each reaching a depth of 7 metres.  This foundational work is expected to take approximately three weeks to complete.

Once this stage is finalised, the team will move onto the next phase of the build.