From the Principal Team

We have had a positive start to term 2, with students returning refreshed and ready to engage with the academic and co-curricular programs at the College. Our Year Level assemblies have provided an opportunity for students to come together and start the term off on a positive note and it has been great to see students reconnecting with their classmates and teachers. 

We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who made our Grade 6 Open Day on Tuesday 2nd May and our Open Night for prospective families on Wednesday 3rd May a success. We had a great turnout of primary school students and families who were interested in learning more about our school. The staff and students who gave tours and shared their experiences were exceptional, and we received a great deal of positive feedback. Our College captains and student leaders also did a fantastic job of representing our school by welcoming visitors and speaking at the presentations.

On Thursday 18th May our school community came together for our annual Athletics Carnival. It was a day filled with an abundance of athleticism and amazing achievements. We witnessed a wave of winners and warriors as our students showcased their skills and sportsmanship with soaring team spirit. Thank you to all of the staff involved in organising and running the day and congratulations to all of our students for participating enthusiastically.

Student engagement in learning remains a key focus for the College this term. Engagement involves both behaviours (such as persistence, effort, attention) and attitudes (such as motivation, positive learning values, enthusiasm, interest and pride in success). Engaged students seek out activities inside and outside of the classroom that lead to success and learning. Central to this is a strong partnership between students, families and the College, all working together so that every Craigieburn Secondary College student has opportunities to achieve success. 

We would like to provide an update regarding the teaching shortage that is affecting our College. We are pleased to introduce several new staff members who have joined us:  

Liam O’Leary – Instrumental Music Instructor – Drums

Martin Coogan – Instrumental Music Instructor – Keyboard

Marina Sindici – Italian

Poto Faalili – Learning Specialist Student High Abilities 

Vivian Sipsas – Assistant Principal – Year 11

Malaika Rao – Student Counsellor

Saad Al-Shabani – Multicultural Aide

Ellison Nkwogbo – First Aid Officer

Nazmun Nahar – Integration Aide

Matthew O'Reilly – Youth Worker

Fareena Shahzad – Integration Aide

We also have 3 International staff who will be joining our College in Term 3.  We continue to have challenges finding permanent teachers for some subjects across our Year 

8 – 10 classes. 

Please refer to our Calmer Classrooms page in this newsletter to see how our staff are working together to ensure we have a settled, calm and safe learning environment for our students. 

We look forward to what the remainder of this term will bring and encourage all of our young people to apply themselves to their learning. It is crucial that they develop good habits now that will serve them well in the future. Parents and carers can play an active role here as well. We encourage families to take the time to engage with their child’s learning, be inquisitive about what they are studying and participating in at school, ask questions and offer support.