Principal Introduction

Dear Students, Parents and Carers,

With a resurgence in COVID-19 and respiratory infections (colds and influenza) across the community this winter, it’s important that we continue with sensible steps to take care of our health and minimise the spread of these viruses.  We ask for your support in helping us to maintain a safe environment by keeping your student home when they are unwell, encouraging them to wear a face mask when indoors at school, and encouraging them to practice good hand hygiene.  

If you need rapid antigen tests or face masks, please ask your student to collect them from Student Services at lunchtime.

The Victorian Government has announced new Child Safe Standards to further strengthen child safety across organisations, including schools. The new standards recognise the critical importance of families and the broader school community in maintaining and promoting child safety and wellbeing.

Elisabeth Murdoch College has reviewed and updated our child safety policies and procedures to ensure they meet the requirements of the new standards. These are available to view on the College website at: https://www.emc.vic.edu.au/elisabeth-murdoch-college-parents-information/policies.html.

We are committed to continuous improvement in our approach to child safety and wellbeing and welcome feedback from families and members of our school community on ways we can further strengthen our child safety policies, procedures and practices.

In 2023, Victoria is moving to a new integrated senior secondary certificate that will bring together the VCE and the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL). On Friday 29th July, our College engaged in a Curriculum Day where staff were briefed on the transition from the current VCE and VCAL programs to the new VCE Tertiary Pathway and VCE Vocational Major, and teachers given professional development in VCE processes and how to use data and explicit teaching to maximise exam performance for our students. 

The Inclusive Education team have been working on building their capacity to support teachers with the wide range of learning needs that exist in a school setting. There have been increasing opportunities to work directly with students in the classroom and in small group programs and classroom teachers are excited about the support that this team is able to provide to increase the learning outcomes of our students. Moving forward, there will be an emphasis on the importance of developing Individual Education Plans for students with learning disabilities and/or difficulties and how these inform the adjustments that occur.

Also on Curriculum Day, staff were introduced to the new Disability Inclusion model for student funding. This framework replaces the Program for Students with Disabilities (PSD) and has the potential to provide a wider range of students with 1:1 support in the classroom. Staff learnt about the importance of documenting adjustments made to support individual student’s learning, and the steps required to determine a student’s eligibility for Disability Inclusion funding.

Six students; Jess Fletcher, Caitlyn Petrucci, Kai Amery, Ruby Piemonte and Kadence Sciberras are currently participating in a nine-week camp that aims to build their independence, leadership skills, outdoor educational activities, team building tasks, and more.  The School for Student Leadership, located at Dinner Plain in the Victorian Alps, is a unique residential education experience that focuses on personal development and team learning projects and we are pleased to hear our students are doing well and working on a school a related project that will benefit EMC when they return.

As part of our extensive Course Counselling process, our Year 9 students explored their individual interests and personal strengths and delved into their career aspirations through the Access Monash University Choose Your Own Adventure incursion.  The presentation demonstrated the links between individual characteristics such as interests, skills, values, beliefs, and attributes to achieving educational and professional goals.  

Our students were inspired to follow their interests, be excited about planning their lives after school, understand the benefits of planning their career options, be informed about the role university plays in preparing for certain careers, and understand the difference between various post-school education options and their relevance for different careers. 

Specialist Drama and Dance teacher Hayley Noy is an EMC alumni and a superb product of the College’s PAC program. She is currently playing the role of “Liz” in Chicago held at the Frankston Arts Centre. Some of her other credits include: Snowtrain, Bye Bye Birdie, Rent, Sweeney Todd, Hairspray as well as her self-devised Cabaret “Material Girl” at the Ballarat Cabaret Festival. Hayley has also worked on Playhouse Pantomimes Cinderella, Sitzprobe, TMINUS 1200 “the Unsaid” (Fringe festival and Realm) and short films “the Grand Scheme” and “Residence” by director Matt Mirams. How she juggles her teaching, co directing our college production “the Addams family” and teaching is incredible. Congratulations Hayley!  The Addams family will run from September 1-3 in the EMC Performing Arts Centre, and tickets can be bought via http://trybooking.com/CAATW. 

The College also had another EMC alumni, Kassie Boorer, deliver a presentation to our Year 9 girls around her basketball and career journey.  While at EMC, Kassie was part of the LIS program and a College House Captain. Our Year 9s were left captivated by her inspirational story of grit, humility, and determination.  Kassie overcame many setbacks and injuries before eventually being selected for multiple basketball Victorian teams, leading EMC to a state title that then led to being offered an Oklahoma College basketball scholarship in Education. Thanks Kassie for sharing your journey and we hope to see you back here one day as a teacher.

Our PAC students attended a camp in Healesville at Ferngully Lodge to expand on the skills in music, drama and dance. Aside from experiencing the beautiful serenity and outdoor adventure activities, they investigated, created and performed in a highly collaborative environment. The PAC team provided our PAC students to have a strong voice in the design and execution of the learning event. Students were also encouraged to speak with the newly elected PAC captains, Lily Buckley and Isabella Cauchi, who both showed their outstanding leadership growth during the 3 days. Congratulations to everyone involved in organising and participating in this event!

As you can see our College has a huge amount of dedicated staff willing to provide fantastic opportunities for students, along with a multitude of students who are talented and successful in their own unique way.

Kind regards,

Terry Kiat

Acting Assistant Principal