Woolooware High School has a strong sense of community; a strong sense of family.

Our students and staff recognise that everyone has a distinct role to play in contributing to our community. Our students know that they become the big brothers and big sisters of our school. 

Today, day 1 of 2024, this sense of community begins. Over the next two days ‘Operation Welcome’ commences.

Staff and students aim to support Year 7s with a series of activities to orientate and prepare them for learning at Woolooware High School.

We are investing time in getting started by creating opportunities for our students to connect with teaching and support staff, their peers and resources. They will also participate in activities with our student leaders and peer support students, who volunteered to attend today.  

In reality, this transition work began last year, with our year advisers and members of our learning support team taking time to visit primary schools and work with Year 6 staff to gather snapshots of learning attainment for each individual student.

Today we began the process of considering the information gathered by staff last year as we connected with and welcomed our new people onsite - our new school students.

This valuable investment means we can begin 2024 by understanding the strengths of individuals and ‘where to next’ for all students in all subjects.

Our Year 7 students have been on our site a few times already, through opportunities for connection last year including High School for a Day and Orientation Day. These days resulted in a level of confidence demonstrated by our Year 7s that was tangible, allowing each student to be prepared for today – their first day at Woolooware High School.

We value student voice. We will seek feedback from our Year 7 students about what they valued in Operation Welcome so we can continue to improve and strengthen the transition from primary school to high school.

A hallmark of our school is the strength of the partnerships in learning. Our expert teachers work in a dedicated and determined manner, offering personalised feedback to their students.

These enduring partnerships result in our students becoming confident, resilient learners in all subjects and prepare them for very bright futures when they graduate. Our message to our Year 7 students is these partnerships begin today.

We value the whole person and all that each student can achieve in the intellectual, creative, social emotional and physical domains. This is one of our core expectations and one of our four pillars for learning.

Our staff are looking forward to offering opportunities to Year 7 2024 to extend and enrich our students in all areas in the classroom and beyond.

• Woolooware High School is on Dharawal Country in southern Sydney.