Principal's Report
Welcome to the 2022 school year!
It is with great excitement that I, and all the staff at Emerald Secondary College, welcome you all to what has been an energetic and enthusiastic start to the year. A warm welcome is extended to the newest members of our wonderful ESC community, our Year 7 families and students, who we had an opportunity to meet on the first day of high school at drop off near our Performing Arts Centre (PAC). Shiny new uniforms, massive backpacks, energy, excitement, nervousness and wonderings. The Year 7 students went through two days of transition that covered information on IT, timetabling, locks and lockers and of course, classes and meeting their teachers. Thank you to the Junior School team and all the staff that assisted with our program.
All the other Sub-School ran assemblies as well, both in the PAC and WeBex, where expectations of our students as learners was clearly outlined. Everybody has a role to play in 2022, after a very disruptive two years – teachers have the responsibility to prepare lessons that are stimulating and engaging, and students have the responsibility to display positive learning behaviours of collaboration, enquiry and focus…these goals are real and need to be part of a community learning environment.
Please allow me to introduce our Student Management team to you:
Junior School: Sub - School leader, Ms Sarah Deer
Year 7 Co-ordinator, Mr Matthew Morris
Year 8 Co-ordinator, Mr Dale Fyfe
Middle School: Sub - School leader, Ms Rebecca Arnold
Year 9 Co-ordinator, Ms Cindy Mikieciuk
Year 10 Co-ordinator, Mr Sean Reid
Senior School: Sub – School leader, Mr Jack Talbot
Year 11 Co-ordinator, Ms Sema Yildirim
Year 12 Co-ordinator, Mrs Bri Holder
Please contact the relevant Sub-School with any query you may have, and they will happily assist you with most matters. Of course, as a community, we have an obligation to each other to ensure that all our conversations are professional, respectful and solution focussed – we want everyone to flourish.
‘School Fit’, MYLNs and TLI in 2022
With continued funding from the Department of Education in 2022, the Tutor Learning Initiative (TLI) will continue, as will the Middle Years Literacy and Numeracy program (MYLNS). Both programs are aligned in assisting selected students in achieving their personal best.
To that end, teachers are setting students a ‘School Fit’ Learning Task that requires completion by the end of next week. Staff will provide feedback on Compass and parents are encouraged to read that feedback and set some achievement goals that reflect the learning continuum.
Staffing in 2022
We welcome the following new staff into our college community and wish them all the best.
Ms Lauren Smith – Eng
Mr Peter MacKenzie – Eng/Drama
Ms Amy Donders – MYLNS/TLI
Mr Rhys Holder – TLI
Mr Tim Roberts – Wood
Ms Hannah Joy – TLI
Mr Sam Brereton – IT
Mr Anthony Gale – Digital Technologies/TLI
Mr Devinder Thethi – MYLNS/TLI/Maths
Building Upgrade
How exciting! The first part of a seven-stage upgrade/refurbishment of our college has begun! The building contractors are on-site and have started demolition in the library. We have had all the resources moved to another part of the school and we are trying to run our library for all our students with the minimum amount of disruption. This stage is set to be completed by the end of March and during the first term holidays, the contractors will start on the Administration Block.
I will keep you updated with our progress.
Covid-19 School Operations:
Covid-19 school operations remain in place.
Students have received their first RA Testing kit and will receive another test kit before the end of next week (subject to transport capacity). The advice is for all our staff and students to maintain a testing regime until the College receives further instructions from the Department of Health.
I have been posting daily updates on Compass and thank all our community in their co-operation in keeping everyone as safe and healthy as possible.
Masks continue to be part of the prevention for infection and are still required to be worn indoors at our college. Teachers are within their rights to enforce this expectation in a collegial, pastoral, non-confrontational way – of course, staff build mask breaks into their lesson plans and there are mask exemptions available. Please contact the relevant Year Level Co-ordinator to assist you in these circumstances.
If you require any further assistance in this matter, please do not hesitate to contact the College on 5968 5388.
Please access the following link for more information:
https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/face-masks-when-wear-face-mask
James Barut
Principal