School Council News

Hello everyone and welcome back to Term 2 from School Council.

Firstly, a shout out and big thank you to everyone who was involved in the school’s Open Night on 27th April. We’d particularly like to thank all the students who contributed to the success of the evening – your voices were really valued by visitors and school alike.

Student voice and advocacy is critically important to School Council and is firmly embedded in the School’s strategic priorities, School Council structures and student leadership structures. Student voice is represented by the Student Representative Council (SRC), which in turn is represented on School Council by elected student members.

In the SRC there are many areas of focus that students hope to introduce to the school and are bringing forward to School Council. These include increasing the number of students on School Council sub-committees, ensuring that student voices are heard in as many aspects of school life as possible. Another area of focus is on improving the curriculum and advocating for changes to make for more enjoyable, interesting and engaging curriculum. Wellbeing and mental health is another key area of focus, especially important due to the last few years of COVID. Within this, the SRC is raising awareness about the use of preferred pronouns, genders and identity among both students and teachers to ensure no one is uncomfortable at school. On top of this, the SRC is working on improving systems to report instances of discrimination or bullying and to support students on how to deal with it should it occur.

These are just a few examples of the student voice and advocacy that the SRC are bringing to School Council. We’d encourage all students to be engaged with your SRC representatives – share your ideas and have your voice heard. 

SRC are also strong advocates for student services and we would like to acknowledge the support that comes from parents and carers when it comes to delivering services to our students. The financial contributions you make to the school are a critical factor in the delivery of student services – without this support, we would not be able to provide the level of student services that we currently do.

Voluntary contributions from parents and guardians support student services like our many wellbeing programs, student facilities including lockers and library resources, student spaces, both indoor and outdoor, and extra-curricular activities such as camps and excursions. We are very appreciative of your ongoing support and thank you for investing in improving student services and experiences at our school.

Andrew Hall and Tobias Swales

School Council President and Student Representative

School Council Member Profiles

Peter Allen joined Cheltenham Secondary College in 2022 as an Acting Assistant Principal. 

His role of Performance and Development is very much centred around Teaching and Learning and ensuring that the college continues to provide an outstanding educational environment for our community. 

The work that he does is guided by the Instructional Model which is prominently displayed in all of our classrooms. At the core of what he does is supporting staff and students so that they can achieve their personal best. 

Peter's position on School Council includes roles in the following sub-committees:

• Education Policy; Co-chair
• Buildings and Grounds; Member.

Emily Nicholls joined Cheltenham Secondary College three years ago as a math/science/biology trained teacher and spent several years teaching at McKinnon Secondary College before coming to Cheltenham.  This is Emily's first year in the Acting Assistant Principal position. 

Emily's background in research but found her way into teaching eight years ago and has loved the career change. Her role supports Teaching and Learning here at Cheltenham Secondary College through leadership of the use and analysis of data to inform practice with a focus on Literacy, Numeracy and Data Literacy across the college.  Part of this includes managing the collection of data (NAPLAN, PAT and On-Demand Testing) and supporting staff to use this data to better understand and support the learning needs of their students.

Emily's position on School Council includes roles in the following sub-committees:

• Education Policy; Co-chair
• Finance; Member.