Principal Team Report

Principal Team Report 

Welcome to our second edition of Links for Semester Two (and the end of Term 3!).

As we enter the Term 3 holiday break, a common question from our school community is, “what homework should students be undertaking over the holidays?”

For our VCE students about to conclude their studies and sit their end of year exams, the holidays are an opportunity to revise the work, prepare for and rehearse their exam skills. (Our formal Year 12 practice exams will take place in the second week of the holidays.)

For our junior students, holiday homework should focus on reading.  Reading for pleasure and reading their English novels in readiness for the next term. Why the focus on reading? Educational research suggests that incorporating wide reading into your daily routine can help you gain a wealth of knowledge, improve your vocabulary, and enhance your creative and critical thinking skills. Encouraging young people to spend more time reading might also have the additional benefit of them spending a little less time on ‘screens’ over the break. 

Looking forward to 2024

Year 6-7 Transition planning is still in full swing, as this annual process gathers pace towards its culmination (for this year) on the State-wide Orientation Day on Tuesday 12th December. We will have five Year 7 classes next year, a pleasing increase over recent years.

We are excited to be able to offer Voice lessons as part of our Instrumental Music Program in 2024, and also VCE Applied Computing in the Senior School, and are planning to offer Literature at Years 10 and 11 in 2025.

New bell times for 2024

Our thanks to all the families who responded to our call for feedback. It seems our proposal is overwhelmingly regarded as positive, so we will proceed with planning for the change, to be trialed as part of our Head Start program, commencing Monday 27 November.

Themed Music Concert – Flight ‘23

The themed concert was another musical success for our passionate musicians, showcasing a broad range of ensembles through a trip around the world, to the delight of the full house. Staff and student leaders were dressed as the aircrew, while our other student musicians modelled the many international dress styles, and all ably supported by our tech crew and roadies in the expected high-vis gear.

Two key announcements on the night were:

• The introduction of Voice lessons, thanks to the increased funding our program will receive for 2024 due to the growth in participation, thanks to the efforts of our Instrumental Music Team and their charges, supported by the families - a real MC community effort! 
• Our current Head of Music, Sally Newstead, has accepted a position at Wantirna College commencing January 2024. After eleven years of full-throttle service to Mullauna, this will leave a significant gap in our music program! We wish her well in this new challenge, and look forward to the new, expanding program, to be led by Peter Brodie.

VCE Practice Exams – Week 2 of the September break 

(Monday 25 - Wednesday 27 September)

A reminder to all Unit 3-4 students that the college will again run compulsory practice exams in the second week of the September break. These exams are supervised by an External Assessor to assist us to provide an authentic examination experience. The timetable has been published to students via newsfeed. 

It is critical that all students participate, in order to gain valuable practice and to receive vital feedback for improvement from their teachers.

The message from all of us to the Year 12 students in the coming weeks is to make sure that you find that essential balance between study and rest. Using the simple and effective strategy of a study timetable will help you to pace yourself and give you that reassuring feeling of having things under control.

Key event dates for the year 12 students.

Penny Nevill has published the following key dates for Year 12 students and their families:

• Last day of Year 12 classes - Thursday 12 October
• Valedictory ceremony - Thursday 12 October 7pm-8pm (please note that this date may be pushed forward to Wednesday 11 October due to the debating team competing in the grand final TBC) 
• Celebration Day – Friday 13 October -Breakfast at 8am Opening of the time capsules at 10am 
• Study Week (SWOTVAC): Students able to liaise with subject teachers and arrange to come in and see them for assistance. Begins Monday 16 October - Monday 23 October
• Exams Begin at Mullauna – Tuesday 24 October
• Year 12 Formal – Wednesday 15 November- Canterbury International 6pm-10pm

The 2023 Parent / Caregiver / Guardian Opinion Survey (PCGOS) - Thanks for your feedback!

A huge ‘THANK-YOU’ to the 137 families (32%) who responded to our PCG Opinion Survey this year, allowing us to exceed our target of 130. Now comes the challenging part of analysing, feeding back and responding to the data this survey provides.

Some highlights of the data include:

• Overall, I am satisfied with the education my child receives from this school - 89% positive
• I feel confident that this school provides a good standard of education for my child - 92% positive
• This school treats my child with respect - 98% positive
• My child feels safe at school - 90% positive
• Teachers at this school expect my child to do their best - 90% positive
• This school provides opportunities for my child to develop a sense of responsibility - 91% positive
• My child has been supported this year to adjust to their new year level - 90% positive
• I am able to get the information I need through the school's regular communication channels - 93% positive

Areas already identified for our improvement focus:

• My child is taught organisational skills to help them with managing homework and/or schoolwork load - 54% positive, 29% neutral, 17% negative
• Teachers provide useful feedback and respond to the learning needs of my child - 72% positive, 18% neutral, 9% negative
• This school has a clear understanding of its strengths and areas for improvement - 70% positive, 27% neutral, 3% negative

The response rate by year level was:

Year 7 – 17% ; Year 8 – 24% ; Year 9 – 22% ; Year 10 – 13% ; Year 11 – 15% ; Year 12 – 9%

Interim Progress Reports and Learning Conferences

Learning conferences were held on Thursday 14 September.  Again, it was wonderful to see so many families able to attend both our onsite, face to face conferences followed by the online only conferences later in the day.  

The partnership between the home and school is something that we as a college greatly value and we look forward to the opportunities to discuss how we can each assist student in their learning. Thank you to parents and carers, for your meaningful engagement in

these Student Learning Conferences.

Do you have any feedback regarding the Learning Conference process?

Our conference statistics show that overall attendance at both the onsite and online conferences was very high and evenly spread across the two sessions. 

We are always looking to improve the experience for parents, carers and staff and welcome your feedback via a short survey using the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TN28F3Z

Launch of the Mullauna College Parent & Community Association

Last Wednesday evening saw the inaugural meeting of our MC Parent & Community Association, the MC  P&CA!  First key business was to elect office bearers, so congratulations to the new P&CA leadership team:

• President – Elisabeth Waycott
• Secretary – Yeng Ling
• Treasurer – Elliot Gwynne

We then agreed on the basic meeting agenda items and format, and plan to meet once per month on a Wednesday evening at 6.30pm. 

Our first event is the Voice Referendum Day BBQ here at the college – we will need volunteers to help out on the day, Saturday 14 October, so look out for the call-out via Google Form.

PLEASE JOIN US for our next meeting, here at the college at 6.30pm on Wednesday 4 October.

Jeff McMillin, Michael Bray & Harry Ruff

the MC Principal Team