Principal's Report 

Student Free Day – Friday 10th June 2022

For Term 2, 2022, the Department of Education and Training has provided schools with the option to hold each teacher’s allocated professional practice day on the same day for all staff. This is to enable the most effective and efficient use of this day and to overcome the challenges we face with finding Casual Relief Teachers (CRTs) to cover staff.

As a result, School Council has approved our scheduled professional practice day for Friday, 10th June 2022. Students will therefore not be required to attend school on this day. 

Leadership Induction Assembly

On Monday 9th May we held our annual leadership induction assembly. Unfortunately, the guest speaker we had planned was unable to attend but it was great to have some parents and family members of students receiving a leadership award attend.

This was the first whole school assembly we have had this year and was led entirely by the School Captains – Angus and Lily. We had our intermediate ensemble perform a range of musical pieces as students entered the gym and departed at the end. Thank you to our School Council President, Mr. Peter Neaves, for speaking on Leadership at the assembly and setting a challenge for our student leaders and another one for all of the other students there. 

At the assembly we announced the name of the new student leadership room. It will be called TALMARU. Talmaru is a Gunai Kurnai word that means a ‘place that inspires to learn’. 

Year 7 - 2023 Information evening 

On Monday 2nd May we held the Year 7, 2023 information night in the school Library for prospective families. We had approximately more than 80 people attend the evening.

During the evening prospective families heard from our School Captains, Lily Dierickx and Angus Neaves and one of our Year 7 student leaders, Jaxon Marshall who spoke about their experiences at secondary school and the range of activities you can access during your education at Maffra. We were also fortunate to have our School Council President, Peter Neaves and Marisa Huts, on behalf of the P&F Association, speak to families.

I would like to thank Mrs Sarah Schellen (Transition coordinator) and Mrs Samantha Blackledge (Year 7 Admin Assistant) for organising the evening and to all staff who presented or turned up on the night to support the event and be available for parents to speak to. 

Following the evening we had some very positive feedback and have started running school tours on a Monday at 9:30am for prospective parents.

Update on staffing

Term 2, like the last 3 years has continued to provide a range of staffing changes. 

At the end of Term 1, Jodie Dore resigned from her position at the College. We were very fortunate that Mrs. Merran Bradley who has been employed as a tutor working in Year 7 and 8 has taken on her teaching load at Year 7 and Mrs. Rebecca Jackson has picked up her Year 8 English class.

We currently have 2 staff who have announced their pregnancy and we are working to replace them currently. Mrs Jessica Bird who just started with us mid way through Term 1 as our Food teacher will be taking maternity leave at the end of the term and Ms Jessica Sabourne who began with us at the start of the year will be taking maternity leave at the end of Term 3. 

Our Education Support Team will be losing several staff throughout this term Gerard Abdoo, our Chaplain departing at the end of May to take on a new role in Lakes Entrance and Shane Jacobs, our Facilities Manager has resigned after the last couple of months on sick leave. We wish him the best as he continues his rehabilitation. Helen Watts, Kate Rossi and Natasha Dowsett who work with our students with a disability are all leaving throughout the term to take on new roles and adventures and we wish them all the best. 

In Term 3 Rhonda Lace will be taking Long Service Leave with the intention of retiring once this is finished and Ashlee Williams (Year 7 Coordinator) will be taking leave for the term. We are currently planning for replacing both of these staff as well.

John Monash Science School Regional Exchange Program

Held annually, the Regional Science Exchange program invites students from regional and rural areas of Victoria to spend three weeks attending John Monash Science School – Victoria’s first specialist secondary school for science, mathematics and associated technologies.

Open to Year 10 students with a passion, interest and talent for science and mathematics, the exchange is a wonderful opportunity for students to experience hands-on learning in a variety of scientific disciplines in pursuits, including participating in a number of activities on-campus at Monash University in Clayton.

During their three-week stay, students will be provided with homestay accommodation with a family connected to John Monash Science School, and will travel to and from school with their homestay ‘buddy’ who will also help them navigate their way around our school during each day, and de-mystify the procedures that are part of daily life at the school.

We are very excited that this year we have four Year 10 students that have been selected for this program. Congratulations to Ethan Hooper, Kasey Svenson, Meagan Webster and Ruby Wolstenholme who have the opportunity to participate in this amazing experience and also to Mrs. Kristen Raine for organising and supporting the application process for these students. It is a wonderful opportunity for our students to experience this and immerse themselves with other highly passionate and enthusiastic science and maths students. I am really looking forward to hearing about their experience.

House Sports

We have our House Athletics coming up on Tuesday 25th May. This will be held at the Sale Athletics track and we welcome parents to come and support their children. Fingers crossed for some great weather.

Once completed, we will hold a school assembly to present Age Champions and other awards for these 2 events.

ESP Day – Monday 16th May 2022

On Monday we celebrated Education Support Personnel (ESP) Day. On behalf of all the leadership team and teaching staff, I would like to recognise the contributions of our ES staff to our school. They are the professionals that support the work we do daily and lighten the burden of our workload. They provide a tremendous amount of support, and it is greatly appreciated by all staff and community members. 

NAPLAN: National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy

Over the past 2 weeks all students in Year 7 and 9 have been undertaking the national tests in Reading, Writing, Conventions of Language and Numeracy. I would like thank Nathan Wallace, for coordinating and setting up the administrative aspect of this and our IT staff who will provide the technical support for each of the assessments. 

The results once available will be used to:

• help teachers identify students who require greater challenges or additional support
• help the college identify strengths and if there are any gaps in teaching programs, as well as setting goals in Literacy and Numeracy
• provide additional feedback to students and parents about individual achievements and progress

All parents of students in Year 7 & 9 will receive a NAPLAN report on their child’s progress later this year. The report is only one aspect of the school’s assessment and reporting process, and does not replace the more extensive and informed judgements made about your child by teachers. 

Rotary Meeting – Wednesday 27th April

On the 27th April, Katie-Rose Driffield attended the Rotary meeting and spoke to the Rotarians and special guests. Katie-Rose was the recipient of the Maffra Rotary Club Scholarship valued at $500. This scholarship is awarded annually and goes to a Year 11 student who has excelled in their studies and has strong public speaking skills.

Katie-Rose spoke passionately about her education, her love of learning and the different activities she has been able to undertake during her time at Maffra including her trip to China, attending the school for student leadership (pump track cohort) and her current participation in a mentoring program with Monash University. 

It was a pleasure listening to her and members agreed wholeheartedly with the other guest speaker, Ian Cane who commented that it is people like her who give us faith in the future. Congratulations to Katie-Rose.

Instrumental Music Concert 

The Instrumental Music Department held their first concert for the year on Monday night. The concert was held in the Art building, and it was a full house commencing at 7pm. Guests were  entertained with soloists, small group items, our string ensemble, junior and intermediate concert bands, rock groups and our VCE music students. 

The evening showcased their achievements and we have received such positive feedback from families and friends.