From The Principal
Mr David Russell
Principal’s Report
Parent Payment Policy
In Term Four, parents will receive information regarding parent payments for 2023. Many of the additional programs we run and the level of staffing in areas such as wellbeing, additional support in literacy and numeracy, first aid officer, IT support and hardware, music, sport, etc are able to happen because our families contribute via the essential learning and School Council contributions. In 2022, the updated policy marked these contributions as voluntary. As such, we have seen a dramatic decrease in payments by parents. We have been able to cover the shortfall this year but this will be unsustainable into the future. If parents do decide to not contribute via these payments then the effect on our budget/cash flow and what we can provide in terms of programs, activities and resources for students will be significantly compromised.
NAPLAN
These results have now been distributed to the parent/guardians of the Year 7 and Year 9 students. We are currently analysing the results as a school. It would appear that overall we are above the state mean, with the exception of writing, we have followed the state trend of our results being lower than the previous year. This is something which will form the basis of discussions moving forward and what we can do to change this trend.
Student Toilets
I have had a number of discussions with parents and with School Council primarily regarding the student C Block toilets but also the senior student toilets. These discussions have centred on the negative behaviours that have occurred in these areas including vandalism, vaping and unsocial behaviour by students towards other students.
After a concerted effort by Health authorities over many years, we had seen the incidence of cigarette smoking amongst young people significantly reduce. Unfortunately, through clever advertising, the practice of vaping is something we are now having to deal with on a daily basis. The health risks alone associated with this practice are astounding. Students should not have to encounter this practice in the toilet areas. Also, the practice of taking food and eating in the toilet areas is not only a health risk and unhygienic but the remnants of the food and packaging is left behind or unfortunately stuffed down toilets. No food/drink should be in the toilet area. I am also sure that your child/ren do not stand on the toilet seat at home or/kick rip the soap dispenser off the wall.
Even prior to the conversations with parents the Principal team had recognised the issues and had, and continue, to make regular walk throughs of these areas during recess and lunchtimes. We have now installed CCTV cameras outside the entrance to all toilet areas to assist in the monitoring of these areas.
These facilities are for all students. Everyone should feel safe to use them. The damage and behaviour are certainly not what I would expect of any student and students who have been identified acting in these ways admit they do not do this at home. I ask all parents to speak with their children about socially acceptable behaviours in spaces such as these.
Further to this I am pleased to announce that over the Christmas/New Year break we will be completing a full refurbishment of the C Block toilets at significant cost to the College.
Year 7 2023 Information Night
This was held on Tuesday 30th August. It was a pleasure to welcome the 2023 Year 7 cohort of students to the College. As was the case for the 2022 year 7 cohort, the number of applications outweighed the number of places we could offer. This is a terrific endorsement of the college, the programs that we run and the teachers that work at the college. This group of students will be based in the new building, which is exciting for both them and us. We look forward to working with these students and their families in the years to come.
Year 9-12 Subject Selections
This process is now concluded. We are currently working on the blocking grid so as to maximise the first choices of students. This is an extremely complex task and there are inevitably problems that cannot be resolved within the confines of the initial student selections. In year 11 and 12, if subject selections cannot be accommodated then students will be spoken to by the senior school team. In year 10 and year 9, if elective choices are not available, students will be placed into one of their reserve choices in the first instance. If this does resolve the issue then the affected students will be consulted. This process is almost complete and now the task of allocating teacher's classes has commenced. From this, our staffing requirements for 2023 will be known. We can then advertise for teachers to cover any shortfalls. It is hoped this process is concluded early in Term Four.
Building Report
The hard courts are now well and truly part of the school, with a rotational system working at lunchtime giving all year levels an opportunity to use them. The new first aid area can now accommodate more than two students at the same time and is a much more functional space. The new building is progressing. Most of the internal electrical and plumbing work has been completed. By the start of Term Four it is hoped that the external walls will be complete and work will have commenced on the internal walls and fit out. It is anticipated that we will have handover near the end of the year, when we can prepare the classrooms for use by students at the start of the 2023 school year.
You can view the June, July and August time-lapse of the new building's progress here :
There will still be works to be completed in February but this should be confined to the landscaping of the external areas
Term Three Break
The September term break is upon us. As with each year, there will still be staff and students in the school during this time. In particular year 12 students will be completing practice exams in the second week of the term break. As I said to the Year 12 cohort who are undertaking VCE Unit 3/4 subjects earlier this week, it really is a break in name only. The SACs are done and now the focus is on the upcoming final examinations.
I take this opportunity to wish all members of our school community a safe and relaxing break.