Principal’s Welcome

Wantirna College is committed to educating our students to be inquiring learners with high levels of literacy and numeracy, prepared to be global, ethical citizens in the 21st century, capable of showing resilience and flexibility of thinking and willing to show initiative and take on challenges throughout their lives.

“What makes Wantirna College a great school? How is it unique? How do we achieve great outcomes for our students?”

These are the common questions that prospective students and parents ask me when they are considering our school for enrolment. The short answer is: we have an outstanding, committed team of teachers. As principal my continued focus is to recruit, develop and retain the very best. Terrific facilities are important, the right programs are imperative, engaging and lifelong experiences for all our students are essential, but the single most important factor for a student’s success at school is a quality teacher. As a result we are focused on better understanding what it means to be an outstanding teacher and more importantly on ensuring all our teachers are learners themselves.

Our teachers understand that no two students are the same, their focus is on teaching the individual no matter where they are on the learning continuum. They are adaptable and flexible and ensure all students have equal opportunity to develop and progress in the classroom. Our inclusive environment ensures that all students can be the best versions of themselves. The supportive and caring environment created by the Wantirna College community is as much about people as it is about learning outcomes.

As a large school, Wantirna College has the advantage of being able to offer a broad range of opportunities. We believe that students benefit from a well-rounded curriculum program that offers lots of choice to allow students to discover what they are good at, and passionate about. As a result we do not offer specialist or academy streams. All students at our school can experience success. We value the many different pathways that out students want to pursue, whether it be medicine at university or an automotive apprenticeship at TAFE.

Learning and life experiences shouldn’t be restricted to the classroom. We encourage students to challenge themselves physically and mentally and work as a team when rock-climbing at Mt. Arapiles, they strive for success representing us at sport, they become immersed in the Chinese culture and practice the Chinese language at our sister school in Huizhou, they put their learning into practice and overcome their fears when performing in front of a large audience at the Melbourne Recital Centre and they become leaders every day, whether they have the title and badge, or not.

Our end goal is to ensure that students experience significant learning growth, particularly with their reading, writing and maths. But whilst we acknowledge the fundamental importance of this goal we also understand that students want a positive experience at school and to be happy. We know that the happier students are the more likely it is that they will experience success at school. The support of all of our staff including our teachers and wellbeing staff, our commitment to learning for all, our experiences inside and outside the classroom allow all our students to Discover their Wings.

Kevin Murphy