2026 Secondary Opening Service

Our Opening Service for the Secondary School marked the beginning of the 2026 school year with a sense of purpose and celebration.

The service opened with a procession of our College Captains, Vice Captains and Faith Leaders, setting a tone of leadership and community. The Director of Faith & Community, Mr Joel Klemke delivered a powerful message encouraging everyone to “Give it a go” in the year ahead, a call that we hope becomes a shared mantra to embrace opportunities with courage, enthusiasm and gusto. These sentiments were warmly echoed by both the College Board Chair and our Principal.

We proudly installed our Secondary student leaders, including College Captains, Vice Captains, Faith Leaders and House Captains, along with welcoming new Secondary staff. Following this, we celebrated the achievements of the Class of 2025 and extend our congratulations to College Dux, Zali Macklan, on her outstanding ATAR result.

Our Opening Service for the Secondary School marked the beginning of the 2026 school year with a sense of purpose and celebration.

The service opened with a procession of our College Captains, Vice Captains and Faith Leaders, setting a tone of leadership and community. The Director of Faith & Community, Mr Joel Klemke delivered a powerful message encouraging everyone to “Give it a go” in the year ahead, a call that we hope becomes a shared mantra to embrace opportunities with courage, enthusiasm and gusto. These sentiments were warmly echoed by both the College Board Chair and our Principal.

We proudly installed our Secondary student leaders, including College Captains, Vice Captains, Faith Leaders and House Captains, along with welcoming new Secondary staff. Following this, we celebrated the achievements of the Class of 2025 and extend our congratulations to College Dux, Zali Macklan, on her outstanding ATAR result.

Message from the 2025 College Dux 

"Good morning staff, students, and the Victory community.
It’s an honour to be back here today and to have the chance to reflect on my Year 12 journey - where, if I’m being honest, my academic results were actually the least interesting part.
Standing here feels strange - mostly because it doesn’t feel that long ago that I was sitting exactly where you are, watching the Dux of the year before and telling myself I’d definitely “lock in tomorrow.” Where tomorrow came a lot.
Year 12 loves the word "balance". Teachers talk about it, students worry about it, and people may claim they’ve figured it out. I thought balance meant juggling everything - sport, work, friends, school, partying - and somehow juggling it all perfectly.
But that wasn’t my experience.
I played netball, worked a job, went out most weekends, and didn’t study through most holidays or weekends either as a result of burnout or busyness. From the outside, that probably doesn’t sound like a Dux strategy - and that’s kind of the point. What I learned pretty quickly is that balance doesn’t mean perfection - it means persistence.
Showing up again after a bad result. Adjusting instead of quitting. Trying again when it would be easier not to.
The biggest shift for me was understanding that failure isn’t something to avoid - it’s part of the process. You fall to learn how to walk. You stutter to learn how to talk. You get things wrong before you get them right. I failed countless times during my schooling, and none of those moments really stopped me - they pushed me forward because I learned from them.
It’s okay to try and not nail it the first time. You might leave the school for a term, miss out on a leadership role, or take a path that doesn’t look impressive on paper - and still end up exactly where you’re meant to be.
You don’t need a title to do great things or to matter.
You don’t need a perfect system.
You don’t even need to know how to study to start.
You just need to begin.
I also want to take a moment to thank all of my teachers I have had from Years 7–12 - especially to Ms Whittle for marking every HHD topic test, Mr P and Mrs Maloney for letting me argue some marks, Mrs Mollison and Mrs Burton for their support when Year 12 got tough, and Mr Young and Mr Ramwater for making maths more engaging. Their guidance and dedication truly led me to be standing here this morning.
To the Class of 2026 - welcome to your final year. There will be weeks when it feels heavy, but remember: the good thing about time is that it will pass anyway. The year moves faster than you think. One day you’re stressing over your English SAC or what to wear too formal, and the next you’re walking out of your last exam wondering where the last 10 months went.
And finally, a few pieces of advice for all students here:

● Choose subjects you genuinely enjoy, not just the ones that sound impressive.
● Use your teachers—they’re here to support you, not catch you out.
● Never rely on talent alone; effort is what carries you when motivation disappears.
● And figure out how you best learn, and do it that way.

If school isn’t your strongest area, that’s okay too. As Einstein said, “If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life thinking it’s stupid.” Success depends on the right measure - not someone else’s.

Thank you for having me back this morning, and good luck everyone with the year ahead."

Zali Macklan, 2025 College Dux