From the Principal

As we conclude yet another school year, it is with a sense of deep satisfaction to be able reflect that 2022 has been another successful, rewarding year at East Doncaster Secondary College.

Yet again, our students have had a vast array of opportunities to embrace the diverse and exciting opportunities and learning experiences at our College.

In yet another year that has offered up its twists and turns, compounded by the significant challenges of the last two years, I am so proud that our students have displayed a positive mindset and a resilient approach.

I commend our teachers and support staff who have been committed to ensuring the learning and wellbeing of students has been meeting the points of need of our students. We have learnt so much over the past three years about our individual and collective capacity to manage unprecedented circumstances and this learning will allow us to approach 2023 with a great degree of confidence.

As we approach the end of the school year, I take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the students and all staff members. I would also like to express my appreciation of the outstanding leadership provided by our Assistant Principals, Karen Boyle, Cameron Campbell and Jas Kaur, to our School Council led by Stefan Kazakis, and Parent and Friends Association led by Aban Tengra who all provide enormous support and guidance for our College.

I would like to thank all our parents once again for their support throughout the year and look forward to continuing to work in partnership with you in the education of your children in 2023 and beyond.

Finally, to our students, can I acknowledge your efforts, your leadership, your dedication and commitment and encourage you to keep trying to be the best you can be in all facets of your school life here at EDSC. The effort may be challenging, but the rewards will be well worth it!

VCE Results 2022

VCAA (The Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority) released the 2022 VCE results on Monday morning. I am very proud to say that our students again performed incredibly well.

Our median VCE study score was 34.

5 of our students achieved an ATAR of 99.

33 of our students achieved an ATAR of 95 or higher.

34% of our students received an ATAR over 90 – that is better than one in three of our VCE students achieving such a high benchmark.

58% of our students received an ATAR over 80.

Our average ATAR was 81.22 – the state average was 70.33.

Seven students received a study score of 50, thus placing them in the top 0.3% in the state:

MARK KNIGHT (English, Chemistry)

CHIAKI CHNG (English)

SANAA HASAN (English)

TARA NIEMES (English)

JASMIN HISSINK (Food Studies)

SAMUAL TING (Further Maths)

TYLER IKE (Visual Communications)

These results, I believe, strongly reinforce the direction we are taking to seek continual improvement in student learning outcomes at our College and is a credit to students and teachers alike – made all the more remarkable against the backdrop of three COVID impacted years. In fact, for this resilient cohort, all of their senior school experiences were framed within the backdrop of this global pandemic – a remarkable achievement!

DUX of the COLLEGE

It is my pleasure to announce that the 2022 Dux of the College is Mark Knight, who gained an ATAR of 99.9 – a truly outstanding achievement!

Mark had performed exceptionally well as Year 11 student where he gained two perfect study scores of 50 for Biology and Further Maths. He followed this, in his Year 12 studies, with two further study scores of 50 in his English and Chemistry subjects. Mark worked extremely hard and with great diligence and application as a VCE student and it is great to see that his effort towards his studies was so richly rewarded. We warmly congratulate Mark.

As stated previously, we wish our entire Year 12 cohort all the very best and are very proud of their effort, persistence and resilience.

Presentation Night

On Tuesday evening we celebrated the achievements of our students at our Annual Presentation Evening and recognized the magnificent contributions our staff, students and parents make to our school.

We celebrated student commitment and achievement across the full spectrum of school life, from academic excellence, College values, sporting and performing arts endeavours to community service and student leadership awards.'

We were very honoured that the new Federal member for Menzies, Mr Keith Wolahan, attended on the evening and presented the inaugural Menzies Shield award to our Year 11 student Mariam Elmeligi.We were also thankful that representatives from The Rotary Club of Manningham, the Australian Defence Forces and Bendigo Bank were able t attend on the evening as our guests.

It was an important opportunity for us to congratulate our students, especially our VCE students who have completed studies and gained ATAR scores that will be used to gain places at tertiary institutions, and to acknowledge and celebrate significant student achievement over the course of the year.

In concluding my comments to staff, students and parents on the evening, I had the following observations to make;

At East Doncaster Secondary College, I believe we achieve excellent outcomes across such a wide range of pursuits because of the outstanding attitudes of our students, the consistent, enthusiastic support from parents and our deep commitment to excellence in teaching and learning.

We believe that these characteristics not only prepare students for VCE examination or alternative pathway success, but lead to the development of well-rounded, resilient, skilled, young people, capable of forging their own path and making positive contributions to our society.

Our focus, therefore, continues to be on improving the things that matter the most!

Our emphasis will remain on developing positive relationships, establishing and sustaining high expectations, of creating a culture of being curious in learning and for that teaching and learning to be of the highest quality.

I feel confident, as we keep striving to achieve these worthy goals, that our College will have succeeded in preparing our students so that they may create their own futures.

This is what great schools do.

VCAL- atEAST VCAL Industry Awards Night

I was very pleased to attend and present awards last Thursday at the Annual atEAST Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) Industry Awards Night conducted at Doncaster Secondary College.

East Doncaster VCAL students gained an array of awards for their dedication and achievements within the classroom, TAFE and respective industries.

Well done to Isabelle Lew, Kieran Somers, Stefania Tanasi, Alexia Vlahos, Alexia Moskofidis, Daniel Williams, Hugo Zhou, Nadim Salem, Teodora Topalli and Harron Sultani for receiving awards on the night!

These awards are a strong endorsement of the quality of the VCAL program at East Doncaster, the dedication of the VCAL teachers and our VCAL Co-ordinator, Kelly Kingham, as well as the support of the atEAST staff. Finally, it is a reflection of the talent and commitment of our students.

We are very proud of our students and their teachers.

Finally, I’d like to commend the parents of these students who continue to encourage their children to find their most suitable career path. These awards are a celebration of the faith you have in your children to achieve and gain success in a specific pathway.

College Middle-School Captains 2022

We were delighted a little over a week ago to announce the College Middle-School Captains for next year, following the announcement of the College Senior School Captains in our last Newsletter.

Our Middle School Captains in 2023 will be Isabel v and Neel S.

Our Vice-Captains will be Amanda H and Harris M.

As we look forward to 2023, I am very excited by the opportunity to work closely with our student leaders and look forward to their input and views on how to keep improving our College and supporting our students.

Farewell to Staff

This is the last week of service to East Doncaster for several staff who have been a part of our community for either a short period ranging to well over ten or twenty years. On behalf of our community, I would like to publicly acknowledge their commitment and contributions to our College and wish them all the very best for their future. These staff include Gloria Cheung, Catherine Cao, Omar Carminati, Jennifer Yang, Janet Price, Preeti Madhura, Emma Liu and Sima Ebrahimikhalsari.

Cassandra Brock, Brandon Wood, Jane Denton, Tracey Squires, Sophie Clarke and Annette Viola will be taking extended leave for part or the duration of 2023.

I would like to especially acknowledge Toni Willoughby, Andrew Beet and Paul Booth who have retired or departed during the year, after many years of outstanding service to the Victorian Government School system. Toni, Andrew and Paul have given many, many years of dedicated service to East Doncaster Secondary College. We are so grateful for their commitment to our College and we will miss their wisdom, experience and passionate support of our students. We wish them all the very best for the next exciting chapters of their lives.

Middle Courtyard Redevelopment

We were very pleased to be able to gain full access to our Middle Courtyard space just last week, after several months of weather-interrupted construction during the redevelopment phase of this project.

This School Council funded project has rejuvenated this area and it has already been eagerly embraced by our students at recess and lunch-breaks.

Growth to our facilities

With our student numbers yet again growing in 2023, we are endeavouring to ensure that our facilities will enable our students and teachers to move forward in a manner that fully compliments our teaching and learning program.

After a number of months of negotiation with the Department of Education, we have secured four module classrooms that were placed on our site yesterday. With a bit of work to be undertaken over the holiday period, these rooms will be fully operational for the start of the new school year.

Thank you, for the doughnuts!

To the parent/guardian who kindly arranged for the delivery of the Krispy Kreme Doughnuts for our staff, we thank you very much. After a busy, successful year, it was a thoughtful way to say thank you to our staff. This kind action was a lovely gesture and was greatly appreciated.

Can I also take this last opportunity to wish all members of our College community a very Merry Christmas and a safe, relaxing holiday period with family and loved ones.

John Roberts

Principal

Parent Payment arrangements for 2023

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Please find attached the Parent Payment arrangements for 2023. They are available for payment via Compass on your home page under “Course Confirmation/Payments”.

Alternatively, payments can be made directly to the College via credit card or cash using the College Payment Envelope. Please ensure you download the attached form for the appropriate 2023 year level. Payment envelopes can be dropped off at the College in the locked drop box at Reception.

Your ongoing support of College allows us to continue to offer a broad range of programs and enhanced curriculum experiences.

Please refer to the attached Parent Payments Policy and further links to information via https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/parent-payment/policy

Advertise in our College Newsletter

Do you have a business or are you part of a community organisation?

Do you want to reach over 1,000 families in the area every fortnight?

Our fortnightly e-newsletter has space available at either A5 or full page and can include direct links to your website (no social media sites).

Pricing:

$25 - A5 size per edition

$50 - A4 full page per edition

$10 – for community groups A5 size per edition

$200 - per term

$700 - per year

Email the attached form to

east.doncaster.sc@education.vic.gov.au or contact us on 9842-2244 for more information.

College Philosophy

At East Doncaster Secondary College we have a strong tradition of academic excellence and we aim to promote and sustain a reflective learning culture. We want students to experience a sense of achievement and growth in their academic, personal, social and emotional development. We have high expectations of our students’ commitment to being mutually supportive and striving for success as learners. We are proudly multicultural with a student population from 43 nationalities including a number of International Students. 68% of our students speak a language other than English at home.

A student’s life at school is full of opportunities, being rich and varied with a range of co-curricular activities in music, sport, productions, debating, clubs as well as camps and international experiences for the educational and personal development of students. Our students are vibrant, energetic, and talented young people. There are many student leadership opportunities and we aim to continue to increase student access to decision-making and self-determination as learners.

We endeavour to create a "Culture of Curiosity" with goals of ensuring learning improvement for every student – every student, every period, every day.

Our school’s purpose is to develop passionate learners who are critical thinkers with the confidence and capability to engage in the global community.

Care and Compassion, Curiosity, Excellence, Fairness, Resilience, Respect and Teamwork are the core values that underpin the culture of our school as we embrace the challenges of 21st Century learning.

We aim to sustain a learning culture that provides every student with a sense of achievement and of being their best in their academic, personal, social and emotional development.

Privacy and Data at East Doncaster Secondary College

East Doncaster Secondary College uses a number of digital platforms to support your child’s education, such as Compass, Google Drive and Office 365.

The College has an Information Security Policy and complies with the Department of Education and Training Privacy Policy. Click on the below link to access these documents.

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