Assistant Principals Report

Last year we bid farewell to Gina Carroll, our esteemed Assistant Principal of S School, as she embarked on exciting new adventures. We extend our heartfelt wishes for success in her new career. Consequently, we are delighted to welcome a new Assistant Principal team for the year 2024.

JUNIOR SCHOOL

We will shape our students to be healthy, positive, resilient learners who have the literacy, numeracy and personal & social capabilities required to be successful in the future.

Ms. Belinda McGee continues her role as Assistant Principal of Junior School.

MIDDLE SCHOOL

We will empower learners to have a strong sense of self so that they have the capabilities to become active and engaged members of the community.

Meet Wes Pfitzner

Mr. Pfitzner has been in education for almost 15 years and has worked across several schools in the inner east and outer west. He is a visual arts, woodwork and English teacher and have spent a number years in a variety of roles in student wellbeing, Careers, pathways and vocational learning programs.

Mr. Pfitzner is passionate about supporting students to develop an understanding of what their key qualities and skills are as they explore their pathway into the workforce, this is an area he believes is critical to motivating a young person and supports them as they explore employment and study options beyond school. As an Assistant Principal Mr. Pfitzner is always keen to hear about a student's learning experience, what goals a student has set for themselves and the academic achievements they are proud of. 

Mr. Pfitzner enjoys watching the AFL and cheering his Mighty Adelaide Crows and sharing stories about his two dogs, Oscar, who is a toy cavoodle and Frieda a miniature sausage dog.

SENIOR SCHOOL

We relentlessly pursue academic and vocational excellence and meaningful pathways for future success.

Meet Kristin Skennar

Many of you probably already know Ms. Skennar. She began teaching at the College in 2017 as a member of the English and Humanities faculties. From there, Kristin moved into various leadership roles working with our amazing staff who she feels privileged to learn from and who have supported her to grow as a leader. 

Ms. Skennar loves supporting students to excel in their learning at all year levels of the College. Ms. Skennar thrives in the classroom environment and Doncaster’s students are wonderful to teach. It is because of our students that Ms. Skennar chose to step up into the Assistant Principal role, to help make this the best school it can be for all our students. 

Ms. Skennar looks forward to working with you all.

Bowie passes test with flying colours!

Bowie continues his amazing work as an educational support dog.

Bowie has just completed his annual training and reaccreditation at school, successfully receiving his Therapy Dog certification. This means that Bowie has met the Service Animals Australia Essential Standards for a Therapy Dog.

It is important to be aware that not all dogs, regardless of breed, are suitable for Therapy Dog work. Effective Therapy Dog training takes time and requires ongoing commitment and maintenance for the full working life of the dog.

Bowie has been working at Doncaster Secondary College for 5 years. He is a much loved and popular member of our school community.

Managing mobiles – switch off, store or leave at home

To provide a safer learning environment free from distractions, Doncaster Secondary College will be ensuring students follow our Mobile Phone Policy in 2024.

The existing policy is simple: Students who bring their mobile phones to school are required to store them in their individual secured lockers during school hours.

Studies from here and overseas clearly show that schools with effective mobile phone bans have improved student achievement and calmer learning environments. We need your help to make these same gains at DSC. We are asking parents and carers to:

• Reinforce our policy. Make sure your child knows that mobile phones are to be switched off and stored in their locker throughout the school day. Make sure they understand it is reasonable and expected for staff to enforce this rule.
• Reconsider taking a mobile phone to school. With very rare exceptions, your children do not need a mobile phone during school hours.

Exceptions include requiring a mobile device to manage a medical condition or where teachers have granted a classroom-based learning exception. Other exceptions, such as a school excursion, are determined by school leadership.

We know this can lead to difficult conversations with your child – many of our staff are parents too!

We also know this: Doncaster Secondary College will be a better place to socialise and learn without the anxiety and intrusion of mobile phone use – and that means switching off, storing, or leaving at home.

Always remember, in emergencies parents can contact their children via reception on 9848 4677.

Thank you for helping us switch off, so our students can switch on at school.

School Crossing

The school crossing on Church Road is manned by the Manningham Council before and after school, we really appreciate those families that take care when travelling past the school during peak periods. Unfortunately, we have had several near miss incidents involving students using the marked crossings and at the traffic lights at each end of Church Road. We would like to ask families who drop off or pick up their child that they follow the road rules when travelling along Church Road, this includes:

• Observing no stopping zones
• Refrain from completing a U-turn over a solid white line
• Parking outside of the designated areas along Church Road

We would like to encourage families to have a discussion with their child at home around crossing safety during peak periods of the day and consider using safer areas along the back streets around the school for drop off and pick up.

Follow the safe road crossing procedure – STOP, LOOK, LISTEN and THINK.

• STOP one step back from the kerb or shoulder of the road if there is no footpath.
• LOOK in all directions for approaching traffic.
• LISTEN in all directions for approaching traffic.
• THINK about whether it is safe to cross the road – when the road is clear or all traffic has stopped.

Attendance

Attendance supports our students at DSC to achieve the best outcome for their learning journey. Each of the mini schools works collaboratively with students to ensure that students are developing the skills across the junior and middle school in readiness to progress. The Senior school this year is focusing on students aiming for strong learning growth through consistent attendance practice, this includes maximising the opportunity to study at school. 

Our 2023 duxes and international dux each maintained high attendance and was a significant factor in their success, this is reflected by George Emmanual with 93% attendance and 99% for both Jenny Lee & Berry Eain.

Reporting an Absence

To report a student absent please phone 9848 4677 and select 1 for Senior School, 2 for Middle School or 3 for Junior school.

Students are expected to be at school at 8.40am. Period 1 commences at 9:00am. If you are aware that your child will be late to school, parental approval should be submitted in the Compass portal, or by notifying the relevant mini school

Students arriving late must sign in at their relevant mini school and take their late pass straight to their timetabled class. Where a parent approval hasn’t been submitted on Compass prior, the absence will be shown as an unexplained absence until an approval is submitted. 

Early Departure from School

If a student has an appointment and needs to leave early, parents should enter an approval in Compass and select the appropriate reason from the list of options stipulated by DET. The approval appears on the class roll to alert the classroom teacher, and the student will be excused from class when they ask to leave at the designated time. Students should then attend the appropriate mini school to sign out.

If a parent provides a written note on the day or a note in their students diary, this should be taken to the mini school before school or at recess, and it will be entered into Compass. Students will not be permitted to leave class without an approval entered in Compass.

If you need to collect your child unexpectedly, please contact the General Office.

Emergency Management Practice

Each year we review our emergency evacuation and lock down practices to ensure that staff and students understand their role in the process, particularly in the unfortunate event that requires us to activate these processes.

During term one we will run a whole school evacuation to the oval, each term we select one of our emergency processes to test. Part of this process may also involve communicating directly with families via email or SMS. We would encourage you to ensure your contact and emergency contact information for your child has been updated, you can do this be requesting the Family contact information form from the General Office.