From the Principal
Follow us on Facebook MORNINGTON SECONDARY COLLEGE
Linda Stanton's weekly update
Hello and welcome to my second newsletter for the year. As mentioned previously, you can expect my newsletter to be sent to you every Thursday at 4pm. This is to keep our families informed of all the great things happening at MSC.
School photos were taken on Monday and there will be a catch-up day, 16th February. A Year 7-10 Numeracy parent information session was held on Wednesday night and many parents were keen to learn more. If you would like to attend a further session, please let Stacee Reddy, Numeracy Leader, know.
A reminder PSW, 1/22 Watt Rd, Mornington is our uniform supplier. Walking around the College, I have noticed many students have grown over the summer break and some have outgrown their uniform. Uniform is an extremely important part of a school culture, and it symbolizes to communities what we stand for. Mornington Secondary College is a great school, and we stand for high expectations of everyone, including myself. Our values, respect, achievement and community are still relevant today as they were when we identified them 4 years ago. I ask for your support in ensuring all students are in full school uniform and it is worn respectfully. If you need assistance in purchasing uniform, please contact Shellie in the General Office. The uniform policy can be found on our website.
https://mornsc.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/MorningtonSecondaryCollege_Uniform-Policy-2.pdf
School council elections take place in Term 1 of each year. Membership includes parents, students and staff. At Mornington Secondary College, we also include community members. Information can be found on our website. If you are interested in joining, please contact Geraldine in the General Office.
Have a wonderful week everyone.
Linda Stanton
Principal
Important Dates
February
16th - School Photo catch up day
23rd - 4.30pm to 6pm Year 7 Meet and Greet for Parents and Students
28th - Whole School Athletics Day
March
9th - OPEN NIGHT
13th - Labour Day Public Holiday (No students at school)
20th to 24th - Year 8 Camp
30th - Parent/Teacher Interviews
April
6th - Last day of Term 1
(Students finish at 2.30pm)
Farewell to Gillian McQueen
It is with great pride that we say farewell to Gill McQueen.
Gill has led our inclusion unit since May 2018 and bought with her a wealth of experience!
Many students and families will be forever grateful for the care and opportunities that she offered.
Gill has picked up an Assistant Principal role at Point cook Secondary College and wish her all the best.
School Attendance
School attendance is extremely important and a Victorian Government compulsory requirement until you turn 17.
Parents need to notify the school of any student absences and the reason within three days. The school will then decide if the absence is approved or not according to the attendance policy. You can view our attendance policy on the school website or by using the below link.
- A student who is half an hour late each day misses the equivalent of 16.6 days of learning each year.
- An 80% attendance rate is the equivalent of missing one day per week or 40 days per year or over 2/12 years P-12.
- 85% = 30 days per year or 2 years P-12
- 90% = 1 day per fortnight or 20 days per year or over 1 year P-12
- 95% = 10 days per year and over half a year P-12
New Staff Member Profiles
Di Parkinson
Director of Student
Improvement
It is great to be joining the Mornington Secondary College community. I am looking forward to working as a Learning Specialist where I support the teachers in the College to continue to build excellence in teaching and learning to encourage our students to achieve the best they can. I have been an educator for several years and have a passion for teaching Humanities. I also enjoy supporting students to select their pathways that they are passionate about whether that by VM or VCE.
Outside of school I enjoy a morning walk along the beach. In summer I enjoy our beachside lifestyle and in winter I enjoy many train trips on the journey to the MCG to watch the mighty Tigers. I am also part of book club where I read most of the books in January – if it is a good book I am known to read it until it is finished. A recommendation from this summer’s reading is ‘The Reading List’ by Sara Nisha Adams.
Scott Kirkby
Year 12 Team Leader
Hello, my name is Scott Kirkby. My role at MSC is Team Leader- Head of Year 12. I have recently commenced in this role after completing several leading teacher roles spanning across VCE, VET, VCAL and junior years. I am excited to be part of a school with so many options for students and look forward to working with the cohort to provide positive experiences and pathways for their future.
Jake Uhlenberg
Year 10 Team Leader
I am very happy to have joined Mornington Secondary College as the new Team Leader for Year 10, and I am looking forward to working with many of our staff as well as the students and parents of the College. I hope that I can offer the support necessary to push the students of Year 10 to demonstrate rightful respect, achieve success and engage with their community.”
Dr Alix Watkins
English Teacher
I am a specialist in VCE English and English Literature. I have previously taught at Peninsula Grammar and Somerville Secondary College. Prior to teaching in schools, I taught Literary Studies and Creative Writing at Deakin and Monash University. I had published Problematic Identities in Women’s Fiction of the Sri Lankan Diaspora (Brill 2015) and was lucky enough to have writing also appear in Mediating Literary Borders: Asian Australian Writing (Routledge 2018), Postcolonial Text, Journal of Postcolonial Writing, and Mascara Literary Review, and she has been a guest panellist on the Radio National “Subcontinental Bookclub Show”.
Grace Evans
Science Teacher
Last year I finished my double degree in Science and Education, so I am very excited to officially begin my career as a teacher. Throughout my years at University I worked as a teacher’s aide where I developed a passion for helping disadvantaged learners and implementing differentiation within the classroom. I can’t wait to contribute to what I have been able to gauge as a welcoming and supportive community throughout my first week as a teacher at Mornington Secondary.
Mobile Phones
As per school policy, set by the Victorian Education Department, mobile phones are banned for students during the school day.
https://mornsc.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Mobile-Phone-Student-Use-Policy-August-2022.pdf
As such mobile phones cannot be used for payment at the school canteen. Students can use their eftpos cards etc or cash only.
School Photo catch up day
Thursday 16th February will be the school photo catch up day for any students who missed getting their photo taken on Monday. We will collect students from class.
Year 12 group photo will be taken on this day, so don't forget your jackets.
Registered sibling photos will be taken at recess only.
Photo ordering details (with unique student codes) will be given out to students by the end of this week.
School Maintenance Update
Grounds
We’ve been busy ensuring the school grounds are prepared for the new year, this involved mowing and edging everywhere, but also trimming back the trees around buildings, blowing all the paths and road gutters, trimming many bushes, rose gardens etc. We’ve also been finishing off painting the driveway edge posts, you’ll notice the nice white painted ones standing out now.
Summer works
We’ve had a large amount of work carried out over the summer while we’ve been away. While a lot of this isn’t noticeable, it will make a great difference in the long run of maintaining the school. Some of the works have included:
- Digging and installing new drainage for the oval side of the Pool and LC building
- Installing a new Storm water pit on the Science Block side of the Pool and LC building
- Servicing of all the AC units in the school
- Painting of the ST Portables, Science Block, Internal and External of the Stadium, External of the Pool
- Cleaning out all the general waste bins
- Deep clean of the toilets and school buildings
- Windows washed of school buildings
- A number of smaller plumbing jobs (taps, broken toilets etc)
Michael Enderby
Facilities Manager / Maintenance Team