Dear Students, Parents, and Carers,

I am excited to welcome everyone back for Term 4. As we see the weather begin to brighten and become warmer we are pleased to see the positive changes in student presentation and attendance.

Term 4 sees our senior students focus on the examination period, as they start to put in place the final touches to ensure that they achieve their best ATAR and study score results. The hard work that these students have engaged in over the past 12 months will be reflected in their results in December. We know that those students that perform 'better than expected' on the VCE examination are those that have a structured routine at home, have engaged with their teachers, and have requested for feedback on practice tasks and exams; these elements help students to build familiarity with the examination process, along with confidence that they have the knowledge, understanding and skills to perform at the highest level.

This level of performance also requires our students to manage their wellbeing and energy levels. We acknowledge that the examination period can be challenging for some students and over the next few weeks we encourage all students preparing for examination to:

complete a sleep hygiene reflection
eat a balanced diet
remain hydrated
build mini rewards into their day after periods of study
create small study groups that assist in building knowledge and understanding
reduce distractions from study such as part time work

Whilst simple, these strategies can help all of our students manage their wellbeing in a proactive way and support their performance on the VCE examinations. I would like to wish all our Year 12 VCE students the best of luck as they navigate this examination period and I trust that their hard work will be reflected in their final results.

This term we continue to develop strategies that underpin our vision and purpose:

An inclusive environment that supports our community to realise their potential by creating curious and resilient learners who excel in a connected and global community.

We are offering a broad range of programs that support all students, and these include a focus on:

Academic growth and achievement, including the Victorian High Ability Program, the Middle Years Literacy and Numeracy Support Program, tutoring, university extension programs, Program for Students with Disability and the new Disability Inclusion Program, along with a breadth and depth of programs that support all students to access a pathway for every aspiration.
Student wellbeing and engagement, including mental health practitioner initiative, group programs including street art, boys boxing, yoga and mindfulness, art therapy, DRUMBEAT, as well as lunch time activities, school wide events including RUOK? Day and IDAHOBIT Day. We also partner with organisations such as Frankston Youth Services and Sexual Health Victoria to deliver additional education and engagement sessions on topics impacting young people, as well as THRIVE and School Wide Positive Behaviours and health promotion including the Vic Gov Achievement Program across the school. We also facilitate a comprehensive extra curricular program including sport, performing arts, camps and excursions and the implementation of the Child Safe Standards across our entire college community.

Our focus is to ensure that all students develop the academic, personal and social skills required to effectively transition to further study, training and employment at the end of Year 12.

This work reflects our commitment to the College's values of:

Respect
Empowerment
Aspiration
Courage
Honesty

This term we continue to focus on the value of respect and will be engaging students in workshops and presentations regarding behaviours and actions that foster respect. I hope that as parents and carers you can take time to discuss what respect can look like and feel like, and the behaviours that underpin successful relationships. We are often able to find the definitions of what isn't respect, and by engaging in these conversations with our young adults we are able to help them better understand respect as a value and set of behaviours for future success at school, in society and the workplace.

The college remains focused on creating a culturally safe environment for all students, staff and visitors, and this term we are engaging with OneLove Australia to shape our College community's knowledge, understanding and behaviours, as we aim to eradicate racism in the Langwarrin network of schools and sporting clubs.

This week our talented Arts and Technology domain hosted The Jaki Upward Art Exhibition for 2023. The quality of work that was presented by our students was sensational and a clear reflection of their passion, engagement and learning of the Arts. EMC is incredibly proud of the fantastic community engagement that this inspiring event continues to encourage each year.

I am looking forward to a productive and successful Term 4.

Kind regards,

Dean King

Principal

The Murdoch Program

Year 8 Student articles: