VUSC News

Principal's Message

Dear Families,

 

Thank you to the families who attended our Year 12 Success Information Evening on Thursday 17th February and the Middle School Student Success Information Evening on Monday 21st February. Both events were held online and extremely well attended. Parents asked lots of questions to gain a deeper understanding of how to support their child. Parents and carers were provided strategies for success such as how to best support their child academically, some motivation techniques, stress management, and common issues and how to overcome them. Information about good study habits and the difference between homework and study were also discussed.

 

Our Open House on Monday 21st March was also extremely well attended. Thank you to the 80 volunteer students for helping staff to run the evening, Ms Orford and the music team of staff and students for entertaining families, and our staff lead by Mr Dowie for the huge amount of organisation that occurred this term in order for the event to run so smoothly. We look forward to welcoming a new cohort of Year 7 students to the Junior Campus next year. 

 

Progress Reports and Parent/Teacher Interviews

Progress reports are a snapshot of a student’s behaviour and work habits during the term. This year our college has decided to implement a new reporting system which will provide a report to parents/carers every six weeks. 

 

Our first progress reports are now available to parents/carers. Parent-teacher interview days will be reduced from three times per year to twice yearly. This is in recognition that the increased frequency of progress reports will mean that parents/carers are better informed throughout the year.

 

Of course parents/carers may contact their child's subject teachers to discuss their progress at any time. 

 

Parent/teacher interviews will be contacted online via Webex this year. This term they will be held on Thursday 7th April from 1pm to 7pm. Bookings will be available on Compass shortly. There are no classes on this day so that students can attend interviews with their parents/carers.

 

Resilient Youth Survey

The College partnered with Resilient Youth and Brimbank Youth Services to roll out the Resilient Youth Survey in Week 7 of this term. The Resilient Youth Survey is a short survey completed by all students across the College to provide the school with valuable data regarding their health and wellbeing. 

 

Students were supported to complete the survey in their classes by teachers and staff from Brimbank Youth Services. The survey collects, analyses, and reports the resilience of students at a cohort level in terms of their strengths, life satisfaction, hopefulness, anxiety, depression, coping style, and risk and protective behaviours. 

 

The school will then use this data to inform our wellbeing planning throughout the year ensuring we provide the support students need and that we deliver effective proactive programs and education regarding wellbeing.

 

Western Chances

Western Chances awards hundreds of scholarships annually to help talented young people in Melbourne’s west to achieve their dreams. The scholarships include funding for items including myki travel cards, textbooks, laptops and internet access. Every year staff at VUSC nominate over 50 students for this scholarship to help them achieve their dreams and goals.

 

The Western Chances scholarship award ceremony will take place on Wednesday 23rd March. For several years, Western Chances have included the Helen Worladge Award for an outstanding nominator. One of our teachers, Di Howard was the recipient of this award a few years ago.

 

This year Western Chances are going to recognise VUSC’s commitment to the program by awarding the Helen Worladge Award to ‘The Team at Victoria University Secondary College’.

 

Athletics Carnival Friday 4th March

It was great to run our Athletics Carnival this year once again especially after the year we all experienced last year. It was an exciting day, and it was great to see students having the opportunity to participate in events and win points for their House. All students were encouraged to come dressed in their House colours to support their peers on the day. Music was played and lots of dancing and cheering took place to support their follow students who participated in the events.

 

I congratulate all staff and students on the amazing day we had, and felt that everyone enjoyed themselves despite the 30-degree heat.

 

I asked home group teachers to congratulate their students on their participation, respect for one another and collectively strengthening the school community by cheering for their fellow students. Our students made us all very proud!!!

 

I want to especially thank our two Sports Co-ordinators - Ms White and Ms Muscat - for their organisation, professionalism and all-in-all contribution to an amazing athletics day.

 

Safe Schools Steering Committee

Our VUSC Safe Schools Steering Committee met for the first time on Thursday 17th February. We discussed the goals of the Steering Committee and decided that our goals are to:

  • Aid the implementation of Safe Schools in all tiers of support within our existing curriculum programs and initiatives (RR and SWPBS); and 
  • To create and facilitate a working party of students/community.

We also discussed forming a working party to ensure student voice is part of our Safe Schools implementation plan. We decided that students involved in our SRC committee and students that identify as LBGTQIA+ would and should be part of the working party.

 

VUSC Partnership with CSIRO

I am pleased to report that Victoria University Secondary College has been accepted into the STEM Professionals in Schools Program run by CSIRO. 

 

STEM Professionals in Schools is Australia’s largest national skilled volunteering program for STEM professionals and classroom educators. The program facilitates flexible, ongoing partnerships between science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals and teachers in schools across Australia. At Victoria University Secondary College, we have been privileged to be partnered with Stephen McAteer, a leading data scientist from the Victorian Auditors General Office. He will be working closely with students completing Specialist Maths, Maths Methods and Physics. 

 

Please see below an introduction by Stephen (pictured)!

 

I am a local resident (St Albans) and married with two kids aged 11 and 13. I coach junior netball and I'm learning piano (beginner) and Irish (not even beginner).

 

For a crust, I work as the Lead Data Scientist at the Victorian Auditor-General's Office and previously I had roles for Australia Post, Telstra and the Department of Defence (Defence Science and Technology Group). I have a PhD in Mathematical Physics from the University of Melbourne.

 

I am passionate about science, mathematics and statistics and believe we can make the world a better place through knowledge. I am super keen to share this passion with the next generation of students.

 

We greatly look forward to having Stephen at our school!

 

College Board 2022

I would like to thank the following parents, staff and students for their dedication and support of the school this year as part of our College Board: 

President - Ellen Arnott

Vice President - Angela Fazio

Treasurer - Leah Manuelemalagaoma

Student Members - Minh Nguyen and Donald La

Parent Members - Angela Fazio, Tupuna Ngaue, Joanne Walsh, Leah Manuelemalagaoma

DET Members - James Dowie, Glenn Leyland, Sue Atzarakis, Annette Lawrence

Community Members - Ellen Arnott, David Lawrence, Luke Ratanachan, Paris Tran, Sara Poveda Muneton. 

 

Attendance

Student attendance continues to be a key focus for all government schools.   

 

Showing up for school has a huge impact on a student’s academic success starting in kindergarten and continuing through secondary school. Even as children grow older and more independent, families play a key role in making sure students get to school safely every day and understand why attendance is so important for success in school and beyond.

 

DID YOU KNOW?

  • Students should miss no more than 9 days of school each year to stay engaged, successful and on track to graduation.
  • Absences can be a sign that a student is losing interest in school, struggling with school work, dealing with a bully or facing some other potentially serious difficulty.
  • By Year 6, absenteeism is one of three signs that a student may drop out of secondary school.
  • By Year 9 regular and high attendance is a better predictor of finishing school rates than academic results in Year 8.
  • Missing 10 percent, or about 18 days, of the school year can drastically affect a student’s success.
  • Students can be chronically absent even if they only miss a day or two every few weeks. Attendance is an important life skill that will help your child maximise their full potential.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Make school attendance a priority. 

  • Talk about the importance of showing up to school every day, make that the expectation.
  • Help your child maintain daily routines, such as finishing homework and getting a good night’s sleep. 
  • Try not to schedule dental and medical appointments during the school day. 
  • Don’t let your child stay home unless truly sick ‐ complaints of headaches or stomach aches may be signs of anxiety. 

Help your child stay engaged. 

  • Find out if your child feels engaged by their classes and feels safe from bullies and other threats.
  • Make sure they're not missing class because of behavioural issues.
  • If any of these are problems, work with your school.
  • Stay on top of academic progress and seek help from teachers or tutors if necessary. Make sure teachers know how to contact you.
  • Stay on top of your child’s social contacts. Peer pressure can lead to skipping school, while students without many friends can feel isolated.
  • Encourage meaningful afterschool activities, including sports and clubs. 

Communicate with the school

  • Know the school’s attendance policy – incentives and consequences. 
  • Talk to teachers if you notice changes in behaviour ‐ these could be tied to something at school.
  • Check on your child’s attendance to be sure absences are not piling up. 
  • Ask for help from your child's Coordinator, other parents or community agencies if you’re having trouble getting your child to school.

A copy of the VUSC Attendance Policy can be found here. 

Enjoy the rest of the term, 

 

Elaine Hazim

College Principal

 

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Child Safety at VUSC

Victoria University Secondary College is a child safe organisation committed to protecting students from all forms of abuse.

 

Our College has stringent protocols in place and endeavours at all times to be fully compliant with the Child Safe Standards set out under Ministerial Order 870.

 

Our College has the following documents and policies in place to achieve compliance with the Standards. All of these documents are available for downloading on our website or contact the school for a copy. 

  1. Commitment to Child Safety
  2. Child Safety Policy
  3. Child Safety Code of Conduct
  4. Child Protection Policy and Procedures