Principal's Report

Welcome

The commitment and participation during Term 2 has been exceptional; a highlight being our Whole School Assembly on Tuesday 24 April 2018. We were honoured to have representatives from the Red Hill and Dromana RSL Pam Rowler Secretary, and John Forster President, attend our assembly.  The Student Leaders led the proceedings, David Brackenridge played the Last Post perfectly and all 1500 students stood in absolute silence; a very moving and incredibly respectful moment in the journey of our school.  Thank you to Ms Jacqui Rodden and our Choir, and Ms Peta McGinley, for the organisation of the assembly.

Open Night Thursday 19 April

The annual College Open Night was held on Thursday 19 April with all teaching and support staff in attendance.  The event was very well supported with a high number of families in attendance. Our Guest speakers; Charlie Jones, Lila Webb and Alan Bounds (President) were very well received and I would like to take this opportunity to recognize and say thank you to all involved.  Open Night, in my opinion, is a fantastic evening designed primarily to share our pride in our students and their teachers with the wider community. We are not a school that needs to increase or compete for enrollment. Open Night is a significant logistical task, and we constantly seek feedback on how the evening can be done better.  The community feedback has been very positive. Year 7 numbers for 2019 will be available in  August.

Anzac Day

Congratulations to all our community on their involvement in the ANZAC celebrations. Some 300 people were in attendance at the local ANZAC commemoration breakfast held on ANZAC Day at the Dromana RSL.   Our School Captains Lily Bardelmeyer, Lilla Webb, Bailey Isbister and Oscar Wycisk represented the College at the ANZAC Day ceremony in Dromana which included a march along Point Nepean Road lead by, Maizy Garwood and the laying of a wreath on behalf of the College at the Dromana Memorial. Our amazing choir sang ‘In Flanders Fields’.  I would like to thank all in attendance for supporting our students and the wider community on this important day of remembrance. 

Japanese Homestay Program

Dromana College has once again hosted nine students from Takada Junior College in Japan. The students were placed in homestays from Thursday 16 to Saturday 25 March. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate their accompanying teacher Yoshihiro Hatakeyama on his retirement. Yoshi has been bringing this group to the College for over 20 years. I would also like to thank all our host families for their support and dedication to our homestay program. This is a wonderful opportunity for both our students and students visiting from overseas to embrace and experience another culture.  I would like to thank Mrs Theresa Stelling, Program Coordinator, for her wonderful work over the many years that this successful program has been running. Mrs Stelling has a full understanding of the many challenges and cultural shocks that overseas students face when they first arrive in Australia.

Presentation Ball

It seems like only yesterday, but once again we all dressed up for the College’s annual Year 11 Presentation Ball held at The Grand on Cathies Lane in Wantirna on Friday 4 May.  Thank you to Catherine Trevorrow (the College Council Vice President) and her partner Warwick for stepping up at the last moment and well done to Mr Adrian Moore and Ms Jennifer Johnson for their organisation and leadership of this event and to all the staff who supported the students on the night and supervised the rehearsals.

Naplan

Logistically Naplan is an enormous task for the College.  I want to take this opportunity to say congratulations to all students in Years 7 and 9 who  undertook these national assessments in the week of  May 15 2018. I had the privilege of supervising some of the testing sessions and was incredibly proud of the commitment to personal best being exemplified by all students.  Well done.