Principal's Report

Year 7 Camp

I had the pleasure of attending the Year 7 camp on Friday the 28th of February. It was a great day with all of the students attending telling me of their highlights over the 3 days. I had the pleasure of watching all of the groups involved in a variety of activities that included the flying fox, giant swing, high ropes, rock climbing/abseiling and the obstacle course. I also has the pleasure of judging the school values posters that were amazing. The feedback from the camp staff and Lalor Secondary College staff was extremely positive and the school could not be prouder of the students who attended this camp. A big thank you to all of the staff who attended the camp and to Josh Simpson for the facilitating the 3 day experience.

School Council Elections

The school received 7 parent nominations for school council which means an election was required to decide the 4 vacant positions. I would like to welcome the parents who have been successfully elected onto school council for 2020 and look forward to working closely with them over the next two years. The parent representatives are : Sofi Warda, Elizabeth Laspatzis, Jodie Maher and Belinda Stojcevski.

I would like to say thank you to Susie Sangas an outgoing school council member, who has served for the past two years on school council

The two vacant DET positions for school council are Laura Forster and Chris Danher. This group brings a range of experiences from different backgrounds that will be valuable for our school council over the next two years. I thank them for their ongoing commitment to the college and the council, and again look forward to working with them over the next two years.

School council elections were also run for the one vacant position in 2020. I thank the 3 students who nominated for this position: Milan Grmusa, Katerina Piromalis and Violet Thodori. The student who has been elected to school council is Milan Grmusa and I look forward to working with Milan over the next two years. I would like to thank all of the students who nominated for the positon, but especially who was a committed member of school council in 2018 and made a number of valuable contributions during that time. I would also like to thank Katerina Piromalis who has been on school council for the past two years and has made valuable contributions to the discussions over that time.

Parent Teacher Conferences

The parent teacher conferences will run on Wednesday nights in 2020 commencing on Wednesday the 25th of March. This change will hopefully make it more accessible to all members of our school community as it will avoid the after school sport programs that often run on a Thursday night and allow more parents to engage with the teachers of their children. The booking system for the conferences will be opened on Monday the 16th of March on Compass, and I encourage all parents to attend, especially the Year 12 parents of 2020 as this is an early opportunity to understand the demands being placed on your child so you can support them through the year.

Student Free Days

We have a student free day coming up this week on Friday the 13th of March which is the school’s first Curriculum Day for 2020. Students are not required to attend school on this day. All staff will work on the schools literacy focus of developing quality reading in 2020, which is an ongoing focus of the teaching and learning program within the school.

Current Advice on Coronavirus

The Australian Government has updated existing travel restrictions to include visitors from Iran who are not Australian citizens or permanent residents. These restrictions were implemented from 1 March 2020.

The extension to existing travel restrictions for visitors from mainland China remains in place. Visitors from mainland China who are not Australian citizens or permanent residents, or their dependants will not be allowed entry into Australia. These restrictions will be reviewed by 7 March 2020.

Parents/guardians/carers should ensure that any child returning from mainland China (not including Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) from 1 February, and from Iran from 1 March, is isolated at home and should not attend school until 14 days after they were last in mainland China or Iran. This same advice applies to any impacted staff.

International Women’s Day

Saturday the 8th of March was International Women’s day with the theme – “I am Generation Equality: Realising Women’s Rights”

The theme is aligned with UN Women’s new multi-generational campaign, Generation Equality, which marks the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Adopted in 1995 at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, the Beijing Platform for Action is recognized as the most progressive roadmap for the empowerment of women and girls, everywhere.

2020 is a pivotal year for advancing gender equality worldwide, as the global community takes stock of progress made for women’s rights since the adoption of the Beijing Platform for Action. It will also mark several other galvanizing moments in the gender equality movement: a five-year milestone towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals; the 20th anniversary of UN Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security; and the 10th anniversary of UN Women’s establishment.

The emerging global consensus is that despite some progress, real change has been agonizingly slow for the majority of women and girls in the world. Today, not a single country can claim to have achieved gender equality. Multiple obstacles remain unchanged in law and in culture. Women and girls continue to be undervalued; they work more and earn less and have fewer choices; and experience multiple forms of violence at home and in public spaces. Furthermore, there is a significant threat of rollback of hard-won feminist gains.

If you have any questions about the information contained above or about anything at all please welcomed to contact me at your earliest convenience.

Best Regards,

Corey Jewell

Principal