General News
2 March, 2026
Hopetoun P-12 Wrap Up - Term 1, Weeks 3-4
By the Community Connections Class
On Friday, February 13, Matilda, Marley, Harvey, Krystal, Nia, Hunter, Hettie, and Amelia all went to the Hopetoun Pool for the annual primary cluster swimming sports. Matilda and Krystal swam in the championship, freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, and the Gretna Green. Harvey swam in the championship, freestyle, breaststroke, and backstroke.
Marley swam in the championship, freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly. The other students who represented the college for the first time swam their hardest and put in lots of effort. Harvey ended the day by winning the age championship, and Marley tied in the age championship with a girl from Rainbow. A special congratulations to Marley and Harvey, who will be representing Hopetoun P-12 College at the next level in Horsham on Wednesday, February 25.
On Monday, February 16, our school swimming sports were held. All students who showed up dressed in their house colours, with some students in costumes for the parade at the start of the day. The events ran from 10am to 1pm. Banksia had really good numbers, with many students participating. Yarrara had nearly half of their team away, so it was great to see the people there participating. Banksia had a great day and came home with the win. Thanks to all the parents and teachers who volunteered and helped out on the day, thanks to Patti for all her work with the students and for letting us use the pool, and thanks to the lifeguards for making sure no one drowned that day. Finally, a massive thank you to the students who participated on the day, and congratulations to all the students who have made it to the next level of swimming, scheduled for Thursday, February 26.
On Wednesday, February 9, the Year Seven and Eight class headed off to Kryal Castle for their start of year camp for 2026. For the first day, they left at 9am and travelled to Ballarat, starting off with a swim at the Ballarat Aquatic Centre, before checking in, taking a tour of the castle, and settling in. They followed on by doing a maze in the castle, and then later that night they went to the cinema to watch Zootopia 2. For day two, they participated in sword fighting, made medieval medicine, made band aids, created leather key chains, went to a lolly shop, and had a trivia night. On day three, they packed up and headed off, stopped for Maccas and stopped at Warracknabeal Animal Park to have doughnuts. A few of the students’ favourite parts of the camp included: Denzel, who said the best part of the camp was the sword fighting, and Popi and Sophie, whose favourite part was the lolly shop. A big thank you to the staff - Miss Donnelly, Mrs Salmon, Kybe - and to the volunteer bus driver, Joe Chivell.
The Hopetoun P-12 Presentation Ball training has begun in preparation for the 2026 Deb Ball on March 27, held at the Town Hall. Two instructors, Carol and Connelly, have come from Birchip to teach the dances. There have been four training sessions, held on Mondays at the hall. Across the two classes, Year Ten and Eleven, there are 10 participants for the Presentation Ball.
This year, the articles are written by Luca, Lilly, and Charlie.