Principal's Report

Students Representing

Greensborough College

Greensborough College has been proudly represented in the community over the last term.

School Captain, Angus Webb, and Vice-Captain, Callan Dye, delivered a speech and laid a wreath at the Watsonia ANZAC Day service. Our students impressed the audience so much that they were invited to deliver their speeches to students at Streeton Primary School at its ANZAC Day commemoration the following week.

Our Interact students represented and gave speeches at the Greensborough Rotary Club function late last month.  Abbi Harpur and Alex Mitchell described their experiences and learnings as Junior Rotarians of the Month.  Emily Beasley and Bentley Butler spoke about their amazing adventure at the Rotary Youth Program of Enrichment (RYPEN) held at Lake Nillahcootie.  Joel Lowe, a past Junior Rotarian of the Month, was also in attendance to represent our College and to support his fellow Interactors. It was a fantastic night, shared with their parents, our School Council President and Assistant Principal, Glenn Jenner. It was a very proud evening for me as the Principal of our College.

Spotlight on Teachers

We have an amazing staff at Greensborough College. Each and every staff member is dedicated to enhancing a positive school climate and ensuring students achieve their personal best. I would like to put the spotlight on some of our teachers who are to be congratulated for their efforts, work and the recognition they have received.

Meegan Triance, Arts Domain Leader, has been successfully appointed as the 2019 Education State Arts Performance Assessor for the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority. This is a great achievement and testament of Meegan’s exceptional knowledge of the VCE Curriculum and her commitment to developing herself professionally, so that she can continue to positively impact our students’ learning and achievement.

Jackie McDonald, VCAL Coordinator and Numeracy Instructional Leader has been invited to present at the Victorian Applied Learning Association Conference. Her presentation explores the numeracy partnership that she and her students have built with Watsonia Heights Primary School.  Jackie’s absolute passion and dedication to ensuring that our VCAL program is of the highest standard is to be applauded.

Heather Dear has been acknowledged by Greensborough Rotary Club for driving the Interact program at our school, including engaging our students in many fundraising and other activities offered by the Rotary Club. We are a “fledgling” Interact Club, however the work Heather has done to connect students to the program, to encourage them to embrace community service and citizenship and to take up the opportunities offered is outstanding.  At our school we now have a thriving Interact with student leaders taking on significant roles.

Leighton O’Donnell has been accepted into the Unlocking Potential Program which is the Education Sate’s flagship Principal preparation program for high potential leaders. This program has a rigorous selection process to ensure that applicants selected are those most likely to benefit from the experience and succeed in a principal role.  Leighton is thoroughly deserving of this opportunity. He will be mentored by the Principal of Upwey High School and he will bring his learnings back to our school community. 

North East Link Project (NELP)

Greensborough College has been identified in the Sport and Recreation Environmental Effects Statement as an option for redevelopment of our sporting fields. I have been in consultation with NELP, Banyule City Council and the DET throughout leading up to the public consultation process.  The NELP will be redeveloping recreational spaces so that sporting clubs in the community can be maintained throughout the project.

This is very exciting for our school as this will mean our students will have state-of-the-art sporting grounds and facilities for use and the community will have the same, out of hours. 

NELP will have a display at our school in the Administration on Wednesday 15th May from 3.00pm.  Parents and students can come and peruse the design proposal and ask questions of the project leaders. All members of the community are invited to give feedback through the consultation process. You will find all the details on our website.

NAPLAN

Next week our students in Years 7 and 9 sit the NAPLAN tests. These national test results provide information on how your child is progressing and performing in the key areas of literacy and numeracy and also help to support improvements in teaching which can benefit your child. Results will be sent to schools between mid-August to mid-September. All students who sit the NAPLAN will receive individual reports, which will be sent to families.  Our school will use the NAPLAN data to inform our teaching practices and to plan for curriculum delivery. Our teachers also work with other achievement data sets including OnDemand English and Maths test results and common assessment task results, to plan for differentiated teaching and learning.

National Reconciliation Week

27th May – 3rd June

National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

The dates for NRW remain the same each year as these dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey – the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.

This year’s theme is “Grounded in Truth. Walk Together with Courage”.

At Greensborough College, we fly the Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander Flag, with the Australian Flag. At all of our events and ceremonies, we perform an “Acknowledgement of Country” that honours the traditional custodians of the land.  The Banyule Council is running a number of cultural events during the coming weeks, which I encourage our community to take part in.

Happy Mother’s Day

Mother's Day is a celebration acknowledging motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. On this day we also acknowledge those women who have influenced us, cared for us and supported us.  I would like to take this opportunity to wish the mothers and women in our community a Happy Mother’s Day and I hope families get to spend some good, quality time with each other over this weekend.

Ms Pauline Barker

Principal