Principal Report

Whilst we may fall guilty of having the ‘Winter Blues’, at Woodmans Hill we are very much aware that spring is around the corner and we are entering into a season associated with new life and growth. A sense of expectancy seems to be present within the classrooms and study areas of our college and this can be most clearly felt within our more senior students.

For Year 11 & 12 students, we are very much at the ‘business end’ of the year where they realise that every second of every minute counts. For our VCAL students, they are hard at work developing employability skills that will give them an advantage over their peers across Ballarat. It gives me enormous pleasure to go into our VCAL classes and hear the ideas that they have to change their immediate and wider community. When I hear our students plans to support the most vulnerable members of our society and then see them work hard to follow through on these projects, I am filled with pride in what they have achieved and will go on to achieve. Jasmine and Rhiannon’s fundraising for the WRISC Family Violence Support organisation is just one example of how our students care for others. I believe that your children will go on to make a massive difference within our society as they come from a position of good values, a belief in social justice and a willingness to look after others. In supporting a wide range of causes, our VCAL students are developing the skills that are transferable and critical in the world of work: they continue to act as ambassadors and role models to our younger students whilst learning to grow and learn.

At the same time, many of our VCE students are in the process of applying for university places. Through the work of the senior team, they have been given the opportunity to meet with representatives from some of the top universities to get a sense of the range of opportunities that are out there for them. I have been impressed by the ambition our students have and their commitment to finding ways to get to visit as many university open days as possible to choose the right destination for themselves. As someone who has taught in the private sector, I know 100% that our students are more than a match for their peers across the state and have the same entitlement to pursue the highest qualifications that can open doors for them in the future.

We are also working hard to improve our provision for them so that they can be successful in their final examinations. Our students have received ongoing support from Elevate (who specialise in providing study skills seminars across Australia) and targeted assemblies from our own staff. Our current crop of senior students are assessment ready and need to focus on their goals. We wish them well in the final stage of their journey with us and trust that they will give their all in the coming months: there is still enough time to make a difference to each student’s final outcome through hard work, demanding and acting on feedback and a sense of self-belief.

If our Year 12 students could tell their Year 7 selves anything it would be, ‘don’t waste time!’ as it is never too early to pursue your dream.

In the first half of this term, we have held a professionals forum to provide an opportunity for our students to question a range of adults about their career route and the qualifications needed in order to be successful in each chosen field. This was then followed with one-to-one meetings with students, parents and our senior team to help map out a long term plan that was individualised and aspirational. As a parent, I need more than an information booklet and form to fill in in order to help one of my kids make a decision that could shape their lives. At Woodmans Hill Secondary College, we are committed to ensuring that each student has every opportunity to realise their dreams. We therefore have an obligation to ensure that expectations are clearly explained and that we map out every step of the journey: the route to success may change for each student, but you need a plan first and foremost if you are to make any sense of the road ahead.

And we need to continue to work together- as a community who believe that the sky’s the limit for our students- to help realise every dream

Stephan Fields

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