Principal's Report

Staff PD Day – Monday 24th April

All staff took part in professional learning with other teachers and education support staff from Sale College and Yarram Secondary College on Monday 24th April. The focus was on Differentiation and our Instructional Model. VCE English teachers also continued their work for the second year with an external consultant, Helen Billett, continuing their focus of improving VCE English outcomes and the 7-9 Maths teachers across the 3 schools focused on Numeracy improvement, Learning sequences and Maths Challenges. All of the Education Support staff across the 3 schools came together and worked with Greg Mitchell on behaviour management. It was a productive and engaging day for staff, and we look forward to these collaborative networks growing stronger as we all have the same vested interest in improving educational outcomes for all students in the Wellington network.

ANZAC Day – Tuesday 25th April

On ANZAC Day we had a number of students involved in ANZAC Day services in and around our community. We had students laying wreaths in Heyfield (Jayde Parsons, Ebony Whitehead & Maddy Winter) and Maffra (Charlie Giles, Jayde Parsons and Jeremy Smyth), along with other students representing the cadets at different services and marches. After the service in Maffra, Jeremy Smyth as the 2022 recipient of the RSL Memorial Scholarship, presented his speech at the Maffra RSL to invited guests and RSL members. His speech was in response to the question… “What ANZAC Day means to me?” 

When all students returned to school on Wednesday, we ran a short commemorative service to remember, reflect and respect the ANZAC tradition. This was led by our school captains and vice captains. 

Jeremy’s speech can be read later in this newsletter.

Our school dog – Banksi

At the end of last term, I informed families that we were getting a new addition to our school – a wellbeing dog. At the beginning of this term, students and staff had an opportunity to put forward names for our new staff member and from there, the list of names was shortlisted to 6 and staff and students were able to cast a vote for their favourite name. After 340 votes, there was only 2 votes separating the top 2 names. The winning name was Banksi (short for our school emblem which is a Banksia) and this was announced to students and staff on Wednesday.

Banksi is a Groodle (Golden Retriever x Poodle) and does not shed hair, making her one of the recommended breeds for schools to reduce allergies. In the coming weeks we will provide further information to students, families, and staff. This information will cover a range of areas including the role of Banksi and how she is to be handled and interacted with while at school.

House Cross Country – Tuesday 2nd May

On Tuesday, students participated in the House Cross Country during periods 3 and 4. The weather was perfect for the event, and it was great to see so many students and staff taking part in this. Some students achieved personal best times and regardless of whether students ran, walked or did a combination of both, they all earnt house points for their team. Age champions and the winning house will be announced at our next school assembly and our House Athletics Day is coming up in Week 5 on Tuesday 23rd May.

I ask that families continue to support this day by ensuring their children are in attendance for these whole school events. If your child needs to depart from the venue, this needs to be communicated to the school in advance. Permission sent to your child’s phone will not be accepted as phones are not to be seen, heard or used during the school day. If something unexpected occurs, please check in with a staff member when you arrive to collect your child and we will update rolls to ensure we have accurate records of students in attendance. Thank you for your support with this. 

Staffing update

At the end of Term 1 we farewelled:

Ms. Sally Tatterson who took up a position working at the Latrobe Valley Flexible Learning Option which is an annexe of Kurnai College. 

Mrs. Kerry Liddell who has retired after XX years of service at our school. Kerry worked in the front office and was in charge of First Aid.

Ms Leza Rye who has taken up a position outside of education. Leza joined us late in 2022 and worked as an education support staff member with students on the PSD program. 

At the start of this term, we welcomed:

Mr Judd Newton – Drama and Humanities

Mrs Michelle Macnaughtan – English

Mr Tim Stammers – Indonesian

Ms Renae Britton – Education Support

Banksi – Wellbeing Dog

Belinda Kelso has just started maternity leave and we wish her all the best in the last few weeks of her pregnancy and look forward to meeting her new addition to our school community.

Ms Jennifer Roep

Principal