Principal Team Editorial
Year 12 Celebrations
Last week, we celebrated the completion of classes for our Year 12 graduating class of 2023. The day was full of highlights with the graduation ceremony being the pinnacle of the day; a farewell and guard of honour marked the final moments in an important celebration of the achievement and completion of 13 years of schooling.
Importantly, the ceremony was attended by over 150 parents. Their inclusion over the last two years has been the most significant positive improvement of this event in recent times. For the most part, the students were very respectful and well behaved on their final day. Although a small group created a slight mess overnight, which disappointed the majority of their cohort, resulting in dozens of Year 12s arriving at school with buckets and cleaning materials from 6:30am to help staff clean up the mess that had been created by their classmates.
Whilst the media have recently focussed reporting on the negative behaviours of Year 12s in their finals days, pleasingly my experience of some of our Year 12s getting up early on their last day to help clean up the school, and ensure that the celebration day was not marred by the actions of a select few was one of my most proudest moments of the year! What a group of legends! These students are the absolute best of the best, and they are more like the majority, rather than the few.
The day proceeded with lots of fun, laughter, celebration and tears and the memories forged on this day will stay with them forever. For our VCE Vocational Major students, their work is done and they’re off to the next challenge; For our VCE academic students, they now turn their attention to completing their exams over the next few weeks. They have worked hard. We wish them all the best and, when it’s all over, they will have earned the further celebrations that will come. I look forward to celebrating with them, their parents and teachers at the Valedictory Dinner on 15 November.
Parent Contributions
It is that time of the year again, and shortly you will receive a Compass message about Parent Contributions for 2024. Contributions from parents are vital to allow us to continue to provide the level of services and resources that we do. As an example, we have two fully trained Registered Nurses who work in our Health Centre and that makes a difference to the level of support that we can provide to students every day!
Whereas in many schools important and sometime lifesaving decisions in relation to emergencies or treatment is made by First Aid trained teachers or ES staff, at our school we have experienced and qualified Nurse practitioners who make these decisions, resulting in a high level of care and better outcomes for students. This level of support matters each and every day and is possible due to the parent contributions that families make. Mel and Eva are an important asset for our school, and services such as these are a significant factor when explaining why our student, staff and parent opinion data is so positive. Please keep an eye out for the communication in coming days and I encourage your contribution.
Melbourne Cup Monday
As usual, Monday 6 November (day before Cup Day) is not a Curriculum Day. However, due to the high number of families who often use this time to take a short holiday, we will be expecting student attendance levels to be significantly lower on this day. If that is the case, as expected, a modified timetable will be implemented on the day for students who attend. If you are planning on a student absence on this day, please enter the absence in Compass in advance to assist us with our planning.Further, please note that Friday 24 November will be a whole school professional practice day (Student Free Day).
Parent Forum
On Wed 22 Nov, 6pm - 7:30pm, we will be holding our next Parent Forum in the General Staffroom on the topic of School Communication (including Compass & Maestro). This is a social opportunity for parents to meet other parents whilst also hearing briefly from members of the Principal team and have the opportunity to ask questions. Light refreshments will be available and we hope many of you will join us.
Kevin Murphy
Principal