Principal's Report

Dear families, 

I extend a warm welcome to all our new students, staff and families as we conclude three weeks of the school year and distribute our first newsletter for 2023! It has been one of the smoothest of starts I can remember, and I congratulate all our students and staff for their commitment to our college values and culture.  Our learning environments are calm and our students are settled. There are always a few minor hiccups in the early days of school but our prep students are following their new routines enabling them to feel safe. 

The year 7 and 8 groups are heading off on camp next week, and for our new students this is a time to build relationships with peers and staff. We see so many students shine on camp exhibiting leadership potential, accepting new challenges and stepping outside their comfort zone.  Our year 7 groups get to know each other well in a more informal setting and also see a different side to the staff they meet each day on site.  Strong relationships are paramount to our ongoing partnership and feeling safe at school. It is through these extracurricular activities that relationships are strengthened with peers and staff.

To keep our community informed, the college newsletter will be published fortnightly whilst more pressing or immediate information will be distributed via a compass email push from administration staff,  leadership or the executive team.

College Council 2023

The final meeting of the current college council was held on Wednesday evening with our current President Sarah Brooker stepping down as a parent representative on the council. As per Department of Education governance guidelines, Sarah is ineligible to serve as a parent representative as she does not currently have a child attending the college. The remaining one year term or casual vacancy will be filled by Kade Dillon – father of Oliver 2C, a retiring councilor and member of the policy subcommittee.   I extend my warmest appreciation to Sarah who has done an exceptional job as Council President over the past year, with her passion for Altona College and its continued development and growth second to none. 

Enrolments

Our current enrolment is approximately 652 students. Our total enrolment will be confirmed on census day, 28th February with the annual School Resource Package for 2023 based on student attendance on that date. 

Staffing

Yesterday we farewelled Simone Costello who is moving to Baden Powell College in Tarneit where she will be teaching Italian. Simone has worked at the college for over 14 years and was very well respected by our community. She was instrumental in developing our previous Italian program as a then prep to year 9 school. Simone has known some of our current Year 12 students since they were in prep and will be sadly missed. On behalf of the community, I extend my appreciation to Simone for her work.

I also extend a very warm welcome to two new teaching staff, Sheffali Sharma and Daniel Connell. Sheffali will be teaching English and Humanities taking over Simone Costello's classes whilst Daniel will be teaching English classes in Year 7 and 8. Skye Moore and Jim Millman have joined the music department providing woodwind and string instrumental instruction.  Our classes will be fully staffed next week following an extensive recruitment program through department processes and recruitment companies. 

School Bus 

Mr Guthridge wrote to alert families of an issue with our school bus run yesterday. As of Thursday, drivers have been instructed to depart at the scheduled time of 3.10pm, which previously aligned with our 3.05pm dismissal. Despite requesting a change to the schedule last year, this has not yet been actioned by the bus company and I am currently working with both CDC and the Department of Education to have the matter urgently addressed. In the interim, we are asking families who require their children to travel by bus, to provide signed, written consent in the students diary, allowing us to dismiss them at 3.05pm (as per last year) to allow them to reach the bus on time. For student safety, we will not dismiss any student that does not have a signed note, and in this instance families will have to make alternative arrangements. If you have any immediate concerns about these arrangements, please contact us so that we can seek an alternative solution for your child. We are extremely disappointed in the bus company for taking this action and have voiced as much. Having said this, we are hopeful that we can reach a hasty resolution and restore the positive relationship we have had. We will communicate further as soon as the matter is resolved, until then, we sincerely appreciate your patience and support.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN testing in 2023 will follow the long weekend in March. This is a term earlier than the regular testing period, however we will have the results earlier in the academic year to undertake a deep dive into the data. 

Burst Fire Main

We had a slow trickle on Thursday last week then the main fire line burst outside the senior centre. It was truly a team effort between plumbers who were luckily onsite in the capital works area, our Assistant Principals, staff and students to prevent flooding into the buildings and to get the water mains switched back on as quickly as possible. The spoon drain outside the senior centre overflowed as it became blocked by mulch.  Everyone involved did an amazing job clearing blockages sweeping water away from buildings and keeping everyone safe. It certainly added a little excitement to the day for the students.  The plumbers who installed the drain repaired the damage on Monday.

Primary Parent Teacher Interviews

Primary parent teacher interviews were held Wednesday afternoon and evening as a meet and greet with families.  If you were unable to make a time please contact your child’s classroom teacher to arrange even a phone interview. The partnership between home and school is paramount to strong academic outcomes for our students and we value meeting with you to discuss how we can best support your child. 

Capital Works

The primary STEM room is expected to be handed over this coming week and the glazing of our new sliding doors undertaken. Once our new furniture arrives the renovated primary learning area will be complete.  The school library is being restored after being packed up for the building to be underpinned. Mrs Kristen Lewis Shell has been overseeing the moving for us with some student suppport.  It will be ready to showcase on open evening.

The new sensory garden should be operational in the next 2 weeks and it will be a lovely area for our students during breaks. We are looking forward to sharing our renovations with the community at our open evening. We hope all families will attend and tour our updated facilities.

The new art space area has been gutted and concrete removed along with walls to open the space.  The focus has been on installing plumbing for the new bathrooms and removing old pipes, concrete etc.  We are hoping this will be completed mid term 2. The final stage will be the renovation of the current woodwork and art rooms into one technology learning space.  Our school is coming together, looking amazing and we look forward to the final scaffolding being removed. 

Annual Implementation Plan (AIP)

The Annual Implementation Plan was ratified by the college council on Wednesday evening.  There have been two clear goals set for 2023 with our aim to meet the 2024 targets of our strategic plan. In some instances, we have already met the targets set for the strategic period. (2021 to 2024)

• Goal 1 Improve learning outcomes for all students.

In 2023 we will continue to focus on student learning with an increased focus on numeracy

• Goal 2 Wellbeing - Effectively mobilize available resources to support students' wellbeing and mental health, especially the most vulnerable 

To achieve these goals, we will focus on two key improvement strategies:

Key Improvement Strategy 1.

1. Learning - Support both those who need scaffolding and those who have thrived to continue to extend their learning, especially in numeracy 

Key Improvement Strategy 2.

1. Strengthen the whole school approach towards social and emotional learning.

We are in the process of employing staff to implement the tutor learning initiative (TLI) and welcome Maddison Blomberg commencing two days a week in the primary school. Secondary TLI programs will be supported by some of our current staff supplemented by the employment of additional education support staff or teachers in training as the year progresses.

Advance Notice: Open Evening Wednesday April 5th

We invite our families to join us with our community for our open evening on Wednesday 5th of April. Our students will be showcasing our learning programs with staff on that evening and an invitation is extended to all interested community members to join us on the night. Prep and Year 7 information sessions will be held for prospective families throughout the evening. The canteen will be open for purchases and there will be food trucks onsite, as we celebrate the strengths of our community.

New Signage

School Council approved the installation of new signage around the college in 2022 and orders were placed. The first stage was installed today, highlighting the visibility of block names, entrances etc. We are delighted with the influence on the visibility at our school.

Wishing all our families a relaxing weekend.

Julie Krause